Silver Ribbons: ORIGINAL VERSION
by ChimamareNoTsuki
Summary: Original Version of the revised Silver Ribbons. I mean... If you want to read it or something... -/-
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Yeah, so, lately I've been super hyped on vampires (not sparkling ones, mind you) so I decided to write SessRin vamp stuff. And . . . yup, here it is. I would like you guys to know, though, that in this FanFic that the vampires/ Vampir and the "wolves"/werewolves/ Lupine speak different languages. Depending on which 3_ _rd_ _POV it is the other language will be in_ _ **bolded italics.**_ _The rest will be just normal. So yeah, that's it. I'm probably gonna have some sex in here later on. It's going to be rated M by then so I hope that doesn't bother people. Sorry, I just think kinky sex and vampires go well together (especially vampire Sesshomaru). Enjoy!_

"POV language."

" _ **POV different language."**_

1

Moonlight caressed the metallic ribbons of hair as they billowed in the updraft of the valley. Rising and falling gingerly, the silver strands made as a beacon in the eventide to the numerous persons standing behind. The soldiers occupying the cliff overlooking the small village donned armor white in color with the mark of a purple crescent. They waited with masked anticipation as their grey-haired leader assessed the valley beneath him. The man's golden eyes were shadowed by the long bangs of silver curtaining them as his pale lips sank into a frown. His skin, unmarred and white, resembled porcelain, speaking loudly of his inhuman origins. This man standing over the village was not human; he was vampire.

"Attack," his voice, deep and merciless, echoed through the valley. The undead soldiers made little noise as they launched themselves into the abyss at blinding speeds. As they raced past, the man's silver hair whipped into his visage. His eyes remained glued to the small home of the people he detested the most.

"Disgusting." He muttered before quietly stepping over the threshold of the overlook and dropping quietly into the valley. It took little time for the village of werewolves to be set aflame and cries of agony to fill the night.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

"Milady Rin, you must leave!" the servant ushered the young woman cloaked and hooded in black out of the hut with expedient urgency. All around the main hut of the wolf village screaming and the roar of flames filled the air. The chocolate doe eyes of the wolf princess widened when she comprehended the meaning of her nurse-maid's actions.

"Kaede, you cannot be planning to sacrifice yourself, can you?" the sweet voice of the woman asked, her lips making way to her labored breaths. The aged woman wearing the light turban and donned in servant garb smiled sadly so the wrinkles around her mouth deepened.

"It is my duty to protect you, Milady." She spoke, her grey eyes smiling.

The woman shook her head in protest as she leaned forward and grasped the maid's dress.

"No, please! Don't leave me!" she sobbed into the cloth. The maid's arms came to rest on her mistress' shaking shoulders.

"Milady, you cannot perish. You must live on." Kaede spoke softly as she removed the princess from her chest and looked into her eyes. All around the two figures flame illuminated their village. Wolf-eared peoples and dogs ran this way and that, white clad figures following closely behind and capturing them by the dozen. "You are the last living heir to the wolf tribe, Milady. I am sad to say but it is as much your duty as it is mine to make sure that you live."

Tears sprang to Rin's eyes as the words her servant spoke rang true. Her heart ached but as the cries of her people reached her ears, courage began to rise in the princess' heart. Pulling away from the small woman, the wolf princess pulled the hood of the cloak further down over her visage. She nodded once before leaning in and kissing the old woman on the cheek.

"I shall not- no, I _will_ not fail you, Kaede. I will live on."

The old woman laughed, a soft, sad chuckle.

"Thank you, Milady. It has been wonderful to serve you." Kaede spoke as she ran her fingers over her mistress' cheeks, more than likely for the last time. The realization that the old hands belonging to the maid would never again run through her princess' hair, nor cook her food, nor grasp her face came to Kaede in the form of large, pained tears. "I will miss you."

Hiccupping, Rin pulled the woman in once more, embracing her as she sobbed.

"I will too-"

" _ **There are two more over here!**_ "

Hearing the cry of the Vampir soldier several meters away the women instantly detached from one another. In a panicked gasp, the maid pushed the princess towards the edge of the forest mere feet away. She then turned to face the aggressors, her back to Rin.

"Run, Milady! Run!" she screamed. The sobbing princess wasted no time in turning and sprinted towards the thick forest brush, her hand grasping the collar of the cloak to keep it closed. Her breath was labored as she weaved this way and that through the trees, her wolf-like eyes allowing her to move easily despite the lack of light as the moon hid behind the clouds. She leapt over branches, ducked beneath arms of trunks, and stepped on the faces of rocks to move swiftly. Rin did not allow her mind to wander back to her life-long friend as she ran, though tears ran down her face none-the-less. She just continued to run, and run, and despite the wear that fell upon her, she still ran as fast as she could.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

"General Sesshomaru," a soldier saluted as the tall, silver-headed vampire walked through the masses of captured wolf-people. Once defiant, the prisoners instantly grew tame as he looked down upon them, his golden eyes blazing.

"What is it?" he addressed the soldier suddenly. The soldier couldn't help but swallow nervously at the sudden spotlight.

"One of them escaped into the woods, sir." The vampire foot-man spoke almost nervously.

"Just one?" Sesshomaru's sudden question took the soldier by surprise.

"Y-yes, General. We've got men searching for the wolf now." The soldier stuttered. Sesshomaru's eyes ran over the mass of werewolves in disgust, all shuddered under his gaze save one. Instantly, the vampire zoned in on the humbly dressed maid-woman. She stared at him, grey eyes brimming with hate as she smiled defiantly. The man's lips tightened into a line at her look of confidence. It was almost as if she could understand that his men had failed in capturing one of them. His mind put the pieces into place as he strode over to the woman.

"You . . . can understand what this Sesshomaru speaks, can you not, _maid-woman_?" he spoke to her. Brows furrowed in a scowl, the short old-woman rose to face Sesshomaru, instantly drawing in his soldiers.

" _ **Go to hell**_ ," she bit out in her native, wolf tongue. The lupine people around her looked up at her with a mix of shock and pride. Sesshomaru's eyes stayed locked on the woman.

"You understand our speech do you not?" he addressed for the second time, his patience was draining.

"I can." She spoke suddenly. The people kneeled beside her gasped, and the soldiers gathered around them froze.

"Admirable, _wolf_." Sesshomaru's deep voice condescended, "The language of vampires is not one easily mastered."

"It seems rather _simple_ to me." Kaede bit out. Sesshomaru ignored her jab and looked down at her sternly.

"Who was the wolf to escape?" he asked, his voice level. The woman's eyes grew wide, surprised at the question very clearly directed towards her. Her mind swooned with worry of her princess. Moving fast to cover her surprise she gathered her courage in front of the intimidating man, feeling the gazes of her people on her back. All of them knew that somehow the situation involved their most beloved princess if Kaede was part.

"How would you suppose I know, _bat_?" Kaede snickered. Patience tried, Sesshomaru's hand shot out to grab the maid by the throat and held her above the ground.

"Who was it, woman?" his eyes raged yet his voice stayed level and stern. Kaede said nothing as she chocked.

"General Sesshomaru, we just received word! They've cornered the escapee!" a soldier reported. Instantly, Sesshomaru dropped the maid at turned away from her. Coughing and tearing up, Kaede instantly reached her hand out to the retreating figure.

" _ **No!**_ " she cried, "Stop!"

Sesshomaru paid no mind as he followed his soldier to the spot in the woods that the wolf had been caged.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

Rin panted as her eyes shifted from face to face of the vampires around her as they slowly entered the small forest clearing.

"It smells like a female." One of them quietly reported to the other. Rin could not distinguish between them through their matching white helmets. Stepping back once, Rin froze when her back hit a chest. Gasping in shock, Rin's hands released the clasp of her cloak as she stumbled backwards to the ground. The hood slid off of her head to reveal her brown wolf ears crowning her long brown hair. It was then that she was grateful that Kaede had taken her crown and jewelry. Had she worn it then, she had confidence that the man before her would have distinguished her as the princess immediately. His calculating golden eyes left no doubt in her mind.

However, as Sesshomaru looked down upon the woman his eyes, as well as the eyes of all the soldiers around her widened. Having fallen on a stone, a small cut was made on her hand. To the vampire's around her surprise, unlike most wolf blood, this smelled the most sumptuous to ever reach their noses. They all instantly leapt back, save Sesshomaru, and covered their faces to keep out the overpowering scent. Sesshomaru merely stiffened as he looked down at her with surprise.

"Who . . . are you?" he struggled to keep himself in check as he approached her and pulled her harshly off the ground by the wrist. He wasn't positive that she spoke his language but something in his mind told him so. Rin winced in the pain of his grasp and turned her face away from him. Already the wound on her hand began to heal and the soldiers began to approach again.

"Please," she pleaded, her voice a sweet bell, "release me." Sesshomaru promptly did so, not surprised at her ability to speak to him, and motioned for his personal to capture her. All the vampires around her were baffled by the event that took place moments ago but none spoke as they tied the woman's hands around her back.

"I asked you a question," Sesshomaru spoke as the soldiers finished tying the rope. "Who are you?"

Still breathing heavily, Rin struggled to make eye contact with the man as he towered over her. Sesshomaru helped by grasping her chin and focusing her eyes on his golden ones. Rin couldn't help the blush that crossed her cheeks as she tried to pull away. Sesshomaru's grip remained firm.

"Do not bother lying to this Sesshomaru, woman. I have the ability to know if you are lying to me."

Rin swallowed nervously but slowly opened her mouth to speak.

"I am . . . my name is . . . Rin."

Sesshomaru's eyes slanted into a glare at the fact that she did not answer his question. However, he did not linger on it due to the fact that he had to return and round up the prisoners to be taken to the CovenHaven.

"Bring her to the others." He finalized to his guards, turning on his heal and walking back into the forest. Rin's eyes stayed focused on the man's back as he entered the shadows of the trees. He vanished as soon as his trailing hair touched the shade.

 _Please review, mates! ^ ^_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Okay so I have some things that are_ _ **ESSENTIAL TO THE STORY**_ _in this paragraph. "Why not just put it into the story?" You might ask. Well, in the story this is somewhat common knowledge and it would be awkward for it to be said. I mean, wouldn't it be awkward if you were a girl and just walked into a room screaming: "I have a vagina!"? Yes . . . yes it fucking would. So that's why I am saying it here. Anyways, in the story, Vampir (vampires )are a race that has the ability to speak through the mind and read the minds of one another. However, they find it very personal to do so and so it is not used. They are also a race that is not very physical. They don't really hug or kiss or hold hands (even though their feeding is very sensual [and so is their sex,_ _ **especially**_ _their sex]) so they don't really understand that kind of stuff. Contrasting greatly with that however, the Lupine are very physical. Touching each other, rubbing against each other, kissing, licking, pretty much everything except sex is a very natural everyday thing (except in royalty. They're kinda "family only" when it comes to that). While Lupine cannot read each others mind they are very much one of those "one body, one mind, one soul" type of bunch. Sex is considered the greatest way to become closer with one another and it is very sacred and kinky. They are very loving and understanding of feelings and it's the cutest fucking thing when you put them with a vampire. Also, the royalty of the Lupine has the ability called "God's Whisper" (shown in chapter) that allows them to perform this sort of dog whistle type thingy. It pretty much just gets all their subjects under control. It is, however, extremely taxing on the body to use and often goes against the morals of the Lupine king/queen to use, therefore it is not used much. Is that everything? Yeah, I think that's it. Either way, enjoy! Gotta go cuddle my cat cause he's licking my leg. (He's a weirdo.)_

"POV language."

" _ **POV different language."**_

" _POV mental speech. "_

" _ **POV different language mental speech. "**_

2

" _ **Princess!"**_ Kaede cried as she rushed to the newly captured wolf.

" _ **Kaede, I'm sorry, I was captured-"**_

" _ **It's fine as long as you're alive, sweetheart."**_

Sesshomaru watched as the two women embraced, crying. All around them the captive wolves began to swarm each giving their respective greetings and touches and "thank goodness" to the young woman as she joined them. Eyes narrowed, Sesshomaru regarded the scene with suspicion.

"Sir, shall we depart?" his lieutenant asked. Turning briefly to the man he nodded then turned to his troops.

"We are leaving back to the CovenHaven!" he proclaimed to his soldiers. "Keep the wolves in check along the way! We will return before dawn two days from now so travel light and fast! Do not touch the prisoners, anyone caught doing so will answer to me!" a chill ran over the mass of soldiers, however, all saluted and the move began.

Walking to the back of the line of chained wolves, Sesshomaru's face remained impassive as his soldiers began moving them to the cliff were camp was set up. There, waiting, were their horses and carts to move the large mass of prisoners. Slowing his pace, Sesshomaru spotted the woman and the maid at the very back, holding hands -no doubt a strange wolf custom- and speaking softly to one another. As they passed him he fell into step beside them and instantly they fell quiet.

"The two of you are to translate this Sesshomaru's words to the prisoners when the occasion calls." The statement left no room for argument, Kaede however, did not care.

"Why should we, _Vampir brat?_ " she hissed. Beside her, the young woman caught the somewhat murderous glint in Sesshomaru's eyes at her friend's defiance.

"Kaede," she spoke worriedly, grasping the old woman's hand tightly, "please just do as he says."

The old woman stared at her junior in disbelief.

" _ **But, princess-"**_

" _ **Please, Kaede. We do not want him to harm anyone."**_

Sesshomaru watched as the maid and the woman exchanged words in Lupine. He did not interfere in their seemingly heated debate, but in his mind he was loosing patience, quickly. Around him, his soldiers watched in near disbelief at the old wolf's defiance, amazed at the courage to do so. The whispers beginning to spread between them caused Sesshomaru to snap.

"You are to do as this Sesshomaru says, understood?" his voice lowered dangerously. Both of them ceased in their debate to look at him. The woman walking beside the maid looked at him with something he could not comprehend in her expression before nodding.

"We will do as you say, General Sesshomaru." She spoke. Her voice held no poison or underlined hatred, instead, its maturity and odd elegance brought Sesshomaru to suspect her. Earlier, the wolves swarmed her as if she were some higher-up. A chief, maybe? Looking at the worn cloak wrapped around her shoulders and the dirty dress underneath he quieted his suspicion. He would leave his musings of her alone. For the time being.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

"Guy's a bastard," the man chained in front of them spoke as Sesshomaru moved back to the front of the line. Kaede huffed.

"I couldn't agree more," she spoke loudly, hoping he would hear even if it was in their native tongue. Rin grasped the hand of Kaede and squeezed it, drawing her maid's attention away from a heated discussion on Sesshomaru using words she would not utter so that she looked at her.

"Kaede-" she began, but realizing just how desperate their situation was she raised her voice, "no, _everyone_ ," she spoke up so even the wolves at the front of the line could hear using their sharp ears. "Please," she begged, "please just do as the vampires say. I would hate it if anyone got hurt, so _please_ , just keep your heads down."

Gasps and whispers then began to spread throughout the chain, a few children in the group began crying, and the people that had been captured in their wolf form began howling.

"But princess!" some began to protest.

"Why, princess?"

"Bless you, princess!"

"Princess!"

"Princess, please!"

The large clamor that began in the prisons made the white clad soldiers begin to rear.

" _ **Quiet!"**_ they began.

" _ **Shut it!"**_

Against the shouts of the soldiers, the villagers continued with their ruckus and it soon began to escalate into shouting.

"Everyone!" Rin cried, desperate to quiet the uproar, "Everyone, please! Be quiet! Please, they'll hurt you!"

"But princess!"

"Don't be afraid princess, we'll protect you!"

"Princess!"

Panic rising in her heart, Rin grasped Kaede's hand tighter.

"This is getting out of hand." Wrinkles deepening, Kaede spoke quietly. Rin shook her head, causing a frown to form on Kaede's features.. She could see the faces of the soldiers growing exceedingly guarded and hostile as their trek down the path through the forest from the village halted. Hesitantly she looked to Sesshomaru at the front of the line, reluctant to see his expression. His face was stern as he peered directly at her, golden eyes raging.

" _ **Quiet them, woman.**_ _ **"**_

The sound of his voice in her head caused Rin to gasp in shock of the intimacy. Instantly, dictating the situation as one of extreme urgency she fell back to her last resort. Opening her mouth slightly and clearing her throat and airways she took in a deep breath. She breathed out and instantly all the people in front of her fell silent in shock. The villagers froze as the tone, heard only by their ears, put them in a trance. A daze fell over the group and when Rin closed her mouth it took a few seconds, but slowly, life returned to the people.

The soldiers watched in awe as the people slowly came back to their senses and looked around in confusion.

" _ **What the hell?"**_

" _ **What just happened?"**_

" _ **What was that?"**_

Slowly coming to, Kaede barely processed Rin beginning to fall forward. Reaching out to catch her, she stared at her princess in panic.

"Princess?" she cried, "Princess!"

Rin's vision grew blurry as, slowly, her eyes closed. Her last glimpse before falling into unconsciousness being Kaede crying to her and Sesshomaru, expression grim with slight confusion in his eyes, standing above her.

"What are you?" he asked.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

The maid whipped around to face Sesshomaru as he watched the woman, browns drawn slightly in confusion.

"What did she do?" he asked her sharply. The maid looked slightly taken aback. Slowly she turned to the unconscious woman. The march had halted, again, and cries and whispers of worry spread throughout the wolves. The maid's face looked as if she was deciding something. Growing exceedingly impatient with the events of the night Sesshomaru's eyes began to glow red.

"What did she do, Lupine wench?" he hissed. The soldiers around him backed off slightly as waves of ill intent began mentally flowing from their General. The maid bit her lip before looking at the man in the eyes.

"It's called _'God's Whisper'_ in our culture." Kaede spoke quietly, eyes shadowed. Sesshomaru growled.

"What does it do?" He bit out. Kaede shivered under his gaze.

"It's a technique that affects all Lupine that are close enough to hear it. It puts them in a . . . trance, so to speak."

"Is it common in wolves?"

Kaede flinched at the common term given to Lupine, mentally debating to tell him the truth. The princess' words to obey the general entered her mind as she bit her lip.

"No." she finally answered. Sesshomaru looked down at the girl in deep thought.

"Who is she?" he asked. He left no room for lies in his tone.

"She is . . . our princess."

Drawing his sword from its hilt Sesshomaru wasted no time in positioning the blade over the princess. Kaede screamed and threw her body over her mistress. Cries of surprise and shock came from the Lupine as Sesshomaru's blade descended. No cry or scream came from Kaede in that instant, instead, the sound of breaking chains reached the wolves' ears as the cuffs around the princess' wrist was broken.

Sheathing his sword once more, Sesshomaru tore the maid from Rin and slid his arms under her knees and head. Picking her up fluidly, Sesshomaru wasted no time in moving up the line of wolves. Instantly the villagers began fighting against the chains.

" _ **Give her back!"**_

" _ **If you hurt her I'll kill you!"**_

" _ **Get your hands off of our princess!"**_

" _ **Princess! You bastard!"**_

Sesshomaru ignored the shouting of the villagers while he walked past as his soldiers held them back. At the back of the chain he could hear the maid screaming at him.

"Do not harm her! Do not harm out princess!" she cried. Sesshomaru paid no mind as he approached his lieutenant at the front of the line of prisoners.

"Get them moving. Tell the old woman at the end to translate that if they do not cooperate the princess will die. I am going ahead." He informed curtly. His lieutenant saluted nervously at his general's orders, the seriousness of his command shown in his use of the word "I". He quickly ran to the back of the line to do as he was told.

Sesshomaru began walking again, gradually speeding up his pace till his movements became a blur. The forest rushed round him as he ran up the path, approaching the Cliffside the rest of his waiting troops were stationed atop of. The Lupine princess was small in his arms as he cradled her making it easy to reach the path zigzagging up the face of the cliff and jump up with speed.

He released a small breath as he touched down on the edge of the cliff, the train of villagers far beneath him. His white armor clanked as he strode to the small camp set up within the several hundred horses and large jail carriages meant for travelling. Entering the main tent he wasted no time in setting her down on a cot to the side of the darkened tent. Turning he was met by three of his soldiers that had recently been eating by the scent of blood on them.

"General," they saluted. He noticed their hungry gazes on the princess and instantly shut them down with a glare.

"Do not touch her." He clipped. All three nodded. "Where is Jaken?" he asked, his eyes searching his tent for his messenger gargoyle.

"Sir," his soldier standing nearest to the door reported, "I last saw the gargoyle Jaken near the horses next to B tent."

Sesshomaru frowned.

"What was he doing?" he asked, his voice hinting at suspicion. The three guards looked amongst themselves in confusion, all pondering back to the awkward sight of the green gargoyle hunched over beside the mares.

"We- We're not sure, Sir." The same soldier replied. Sesshomaru, obviously displeased, turned on his heal, his silver hair whipping behind him as he made to the exit of the tent. He did not look back from the entrance when he said,

"If any of you touch that girl I will kill you."

 _Review, please! ^ ^_


	3. Chapter 3

_Authors Note: I don't really have anything to say except I am tired and I am going to bed once I am finished posting this. Please review, however. It is the lifeblood to my writing._

"POV language."

" _ **POV different language."**_

" _POV mental speech."_

" _ **POV different language mental speech."**_

3

Rin awoke when a jolt sent her bumping into the steel chest plate behind her. Brown doe eyes shooting open, she peered around her drowsily, regarding lethargically the passing plateau as she rode atop a horse. Taking in with surprise the two silver plated arms that bordered her body to grip the reins of the mare, Rin gasped.

" _ **Stay quiet, Lupine."**_ The deep voice of Sesshomaru rumbled beneath the chest plate. Rin blushed at the closeness of the male Vampir and adjusted herself in the saddle. As the horse trotted onwards over the vast wasteland she could feel his body bump lightly against hers with its movements. She blushed when his hips rocked slightly against hers. Attempting to distract herself from the prominence of his closeness Rin opened her mouth to try at conversation.

" _ **Do not speak."**_ Sesshomaru cut off. Rin's mouth slowly closed as her ears wilted. Looking down, Rin continued to battle her thoughts as they rode. _**"It has taken this Sesshomaru's regiment far too long to quiet your people and place them in the carriages. It would not be preferable for them to rouse once more."**_

Rin's eyes widened. Had he just . . . given her a reason? Peaking at the man from the corner of her eyes Rin truly began to take in the general. His face was narrow, sculpted perfectly for the smooth porcelain skin that glowed in the moonlight. His lips were thin, smooth and perfect. His golden eyes, curtained by silver lashes, sat serenely beneath strong, narrow brows. His forehead, crowned by a purple crescent and silver bangs, matched the magenta stripes painted on his cheekbones. Simply put, this man was otherworldly, especially regarding his long metallic hair. He did not seem the type to give reason to his commands. Was he trying to be kind? Rin bit her lip. She was not sure.

Looking to her left Rin caught sight of the nearest jail cart housing her people. Inside it she could make out the shivering forms of the village children, huddled together and crying. Seeing the state they were in brought tears to Rin's eyes. Drawing her hands close to her chest, Rin pulled together her cloak, only then noticing how cold it was outside. Releasing a shaken breath she shifted her body so that her eyes could look up at his face.

" _ **General Sesshomaru,"**_ she addressed. Golden eyes tearing away from the barren dust land, the man looked into Rin's eyes without hesitation. A chill ran down Rin's back as he peered into her.

Eyebrow raised in slight annoyance, a frown played Sesshomaru's lips as the princess in his saddle blatantly disobeyed his order. He did not, however, reprimand or cut her off as she spoke.

" _ **Please,"**_ she spoke, eyes wide, _**"the children in that cart, have you any furs to spare them?"**_

" _ **Furs?"**_ he asked, his voice hinting uncertainty. Rin smiled pleasantly at his question.

" _ **Quilts."**_ She supplied. He frowned slightly before glancing to the children. Sesshomaru was not particularly inclined towards Lupine. In fact, he hated their kind more than anything. He was not, however, someone to be considered cruel towards children, thus he relented to the princess' request.

" _ **Lieutenant,"**_ he called to the man riding next to the cart. The Vampir turned to his general at the hail and maneuvered his horse to his side.

" _ **Yes general,"**_ he asked, eyes focused solely on the princess in Sesshomaru's lap. Rin shifted uncomfortably.

" _ **Supply the Lupine children with quilts. It would be beneficial to not have them dying."**_ Sesshomaru inclined.

Somewhat shocked by the order, the lieutenant nodded hesitantly before glancing one more time at Rin and complying. Rin released a breath she hadn't realized she had held and relaxed back into Sesshomaru's chest plate. Smiling faintly, Rin realized something as she slowly began to decline into sleep: the general that she had initially thought cruel was, in fact, quite pleasant.

" _ **Thank you."**_ She whispered as she drifted off. Sesshomaru said nothing as he continued to look ahead.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

As soon as the woman fell asleep Sesshomaru could begin to spot their midway stopping point in the distance. The Pitch Caves were famously known for being the darkest place one could find anywhere between the two seas adjacent to their country. Conveniently, it was located near the midway point between CovenHaven and Wolf Valley, giving his troops a place to shelter from the sun over the daytime of the two night journey.

Thoughts of the sky's harbinger of death caused Sesshomaru to turn to his left, the east, a subconscious worry fueling his curiosity. The faintest tinge of light tinting the navy night sky blue caused Sesshomaru's eyes to widen significantly. Redirecting his vision to the canyons the caves were nestled in he quickly calculated in his mind the time it would take to reach the mid point. Mouth opening slightly he realized that that time by far belittled the hour or so it would take for the first rays of light to descend on the earth. Panic rising in his throat Sesshomaru reared around his horse.

"Everyone!" His voice echoed over the troops, his mind reaching out to his soldiers and repeating. "Speed up the carts! Every horse is to be at full speed if we are to reach the Caves before dawn!" Instantly, Sesshomaru retracted his mind from the swarm of thoughts that sprung up in panic from his words. Pulling on the reins he turned and jabbed his feet against the side of his mare's stomach. Instantly, the horse reared back and broke into a sprint.

"What is happening?" The sudden, fearful voice of the princess cried out.

"That is none of your concern." Sesshomaru hissed as he wrapped an arm around her waist to secure her. He ignored the sound of her heart rate skyrocketing, and completely pushed aside the memory of her blood's scent to focus on the current predicament. Behind him, the sound of jostling wheels, rushed hoof fall, and the shaken cries of the prisoners alerted him that his soldiers were following behind as quickly as he.

Glancing over to the horizon, Sesshomaru's frown deepened when he saw the tint of blue growing from the earth. His panic rose when he noticed the distance to the canyons. They were not going to make it.

"You are not going to make it."

Hearing the disheartened voice of the woman in front of him, Sesshomaru glanced down. He growled in frustration that even she could tell as much.

"Silence, woman-"

"There is another place. One that is closer and big enough to house your people, keep them safe." The princess said as she turned to him in the saddle. Her eyes were hopeful as well as . . . concerned? Concerned for whom: the Vampir general that had arrested as well as killed many of her people? The idea was preposterous. However, glancing once more at the tens of miles to the mouth of the canyons, he subdued his pride and decided somewhere in his mind to trust the woman's word. Her eyes couldn't convince Sesshomaru that she was deceiving him.

"Where is this place, woman?" He asked, his voice hinting little at his weariness. Smiling faintly, the princess turned back around in the saddle and pushed herself up, her nose pointed upwards in the wind as she lifted off the saddle. Sesshomaru's grip around her grew more secure as she inspected the air. Suddenly, as if a being had pointed it out to her, the princess sat back down in the saddle and pointed southwest-west, away from the horizon.

"That way," her bell like voice spoke confidently. Sesshomaru pulled on the reins of his horse, turning the mare's head to the new destination. In the back of his mind he could begin to hear the uncertainty of his Vampir soldiers.

" _Follow._ _"_ He spoke firmly to them. In his mind he could hear his lieutenant as he questioned him.

" _Where are we going?_ _"_ he asked, uncertainty loud in his tone.

" _An alternative route._ _"_ Was Sesshomaru's curt reply. He chose to ignore his lieutenant's trespassing of his mind.

"What is this place that you speak of, Lupine-"

"Rin."

Sesshomaru looked down at the woman before him in masked confusion.

"What?" his brows drew together as he spoke.

"My name," she clarified as she turned to look at him. She smiled, her lips curving up pleasantly and causing something in Sesshomaru to stir. "It's Rin."

Sesshomaru frowned a little before continuing his investigation.

"Where are we going, Lupine?" he asked, ignoring her attempt at familiarity. Rin bit her lip before turning forward in the saddle.

"An underground waterway." She said as she pointed to the river that had suddenly became visible from behind a collection of boulders. Pulling up beside the roaring water Sesshomaru looked around for an entrance to the underground way. Rin pointed to the flow of the river heading west. Sesshomaru glanced briefly back to the east, becoming restless when his vision was met with soft blue taking over most of the horizon. Pulling on the reins, he once again nudged the horse into running and they departed again.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

Rin bit her lip as she turned away from the slowly lightening horizon. It had been ten minutes since they had met the river and after travelling beside it for that time they had yet to encounter the cave leading downwards into the waterways. Praying for the collection of rocks that marked the entry to come into view she gasped when a pillar of sunlight, small and narrow came streaming past her. She turned back, shocked to see the tips of the sun peaking over the horizon behind the mass of riders behind her.

" _ **General Sesshomaru!"**_ she cried. Following her gaze Sesshomaru turned to witness as more and more streaks of light filtered across the flatland. A small ray, catching the tip of his cheek causing him to hiss in pain as smoke poured from the confrontation. Behind them, Rin could hear the cries and screams of many of the Vampirs as sunlight brushed their skin.

"Oh, please," she prayed in her native tongue, "where is the entrance?"

Just then, prayers answered, the large collection of rocks that the flowing water disappeared under appeared.

" _ **There!"**_ she cried, pointing a finger at the incline into the earth. Sesshomaru grunted in pain as another ray hit him before speeding his horse. They neared the entrance, all the while sunlight pouring over the horizon in larger and larger quantities. Seconds seemed to slow into minutes as the horse raced down the dirt ramp into the waterway's shadow. Behind her, Rin could hear the Vampir general release a sigh of relief. He stopped the horse.

Wasting no time in dismounting, he faced his soldiers as, one-by-one, they came streaming into the cave, panting and hissing in pain. Moments passed as more and more horses and carts flowed into the cave, the roar of the river now a comforting burble.

" _ **Is that all the carts?"**_ Sesshomaru's loud voice barked at a nearby soldier.

" _ **Yes, sir. All the wolves are here, however . . ."**_

" _ **What is it?"**_

" _ **One of the regiments, sir. It's still out there."**_

Sesshomaru barely glanced at the soldier as he strode past.

" _ **Leave them."**_ Was his curt reply. The soldier looked as if he was about to protest but closed his mouth at the steeled golden gaze that flickered to him. Rin watched in astonishment as the Vampir General promptly began ordering his soldiers to set up tents to rest in.

"Horrible." Was the only word that escaped Rin's lips as tears slid down her cheeks.

 _REVIEW! ~_


	4. Chapter 4

_Authors Note: So, yeah, this is a little shorter than the rest of the chapters but that's only because I'm a) building up for the awesome shit that is gonna happen in the next chapter, and b) because I was desperately trying to update whilst I am drowning in the pool called EOCs. Anyways, for those of you that have read my story Euthanasia (which I don't recommend for you people that haven't to read until I'm done with revisions) you'll recognize an OC I tossed in here . . . hopefully. I mean, that story was kinda 'meh' so I won't be hurt if you don't. Anyways, I really like his character (though in Euthanasia you haven't seen very much of him yet) so I decided to put him in here. That's really all I have to say. Yeah, see ya._

"POV language."

" _ **POV different language."**_

" _POV mental speech."_

" _ **POV different language mental speech."**_

4

Sesshomaru opened his mouth slightly as he brought the unmarred flesh in his hands up to his face, his lips making way to bright lengthy canines as they descended into the skin of the animal. Blood burst from the wound in the mammal to fill his mouth with the warm sustenance; the small beast freshly slain. He made no noise of enjoyment as he feasted on the cave-dweller, his golden eyes narrowed as he stared down at the flames in front of him. If the general of the Vampir regiments heard any of the shifting of the Lupine princess as she tossed in her sleep in the tent behind him he made no indication of it being so. However, as he continued to drain the blood from the animal in his hands he could not help but feel . . . agitated. His mind, no matter how he tried to distract himself from the event, continued to replay back to the whispered words the princess spoke as he walked away from her earlier that day: _horrible_.

Teeth sinking deeper into the animal Sesshomaru worked to focus solely on the flames from the fire in front of him, the princess sleeping in his tent behind him being the main reason behind his sudden anxiety. He sat, the slow intake of blood through his mouth making little sucking noise. His eyes stayed focused on the flames, his mind going blank as he descended into thought.

Pulling his fangs out of the flesh suddenly, Sesshomaru stood, throwing the body of his meal to the side of the flames. Silver hair and blue cape billowing behind him, Sesshomaru spun on his heel and made for the entrance of the tent. His tent being the only one separated from the carts and the rest of his men's tents, Sesshomaru received no strange looks as he pulled aside the flap to the temporary abode and entered.

His eyes adjusted quickly to the dark as he zeroed in on the sleeping form of the woman in his cot. He approached her, only realizing as he stood to the side of the slow breathing Lupine female that he had no real reason to be in her presence. Eyebrows scrunching up slowly, Sesshomaru's stare turned to a glare as he regarded the woman.

"This Sesshomaru does not understand why such a being is so distracting." The general said as he lowered to the side of the woman. Taking a piece of her dark brown locks, Sesshomaru's fingers brushed the woman's ears slightly as she slept. She stirred slightly but made no sign of waking.

Bringing the silken hair to his mouth, he breathed in the woman's scent through his nose.

"What is it about this princess that disturbs this Sesshomaru?" he sighed out into her hair, slowly letting it fall from his hand. His hand then sought hers.

"This." He said quietly as he lifted her hand, now scarred from the wound she had received when he had first caught her. He brought the appendage to his mouth, his lips running over her skin as he took in the scent. The faint smell of her blood from that night made his pulse race.

"This must be it." He breathed against her hand, his lips now moving to her wrist.

"This _scent_ is what is drawing me in." he said, his teeth growing dangerously close to her skin as his eyes turned a slight crimson. "It is . . . disgusting." He spoke as his mouth closed over her wrist.

"General?"

His teeth that had been scraping lightly against her flesh stopped in their advance as Sesshomaru froze.

"W-What are you-"

Sesshomaru tore away from the princess as she slowly sat up in the cot. He wasted no time in exiting the tent, the sound of her sped up heart loud in his ears.

" _What have I done?"_ he hissed to himself as he rushed away from the tent, the woman he had just attempted to drink from still sitting confused in its folds.

~ ~ ~ . . . ~ ~ ~

Rin looked down at her wrist in a dazed wonder as she jostled up and down lightly in the saddle of the Vampir Lieutenant. It had been a full day since the incident with Sesshomaru had occurred, and since then he had yet to look at her even once.

 _Not that I should want him too,_ Rin thought to herself as she regarded the way her skin pulled tight over her veins when she moved her wrist. A small blush crossed her face at the thought of it. He had tried to drink from her. It bothered Rin; the fact that she wasn't particularly disturbed by the Vampir's actions.

Glancing back at the carriage she knew her maid Kaede was in, she wished more than ever to have the aged Lupine beside her to talk to. Sesshomaru had made sure to keep her separate from her people. Rin suspected it was because he was being cautious of her movements; however she had no intentions of rebelling against his actions. She had seen long ago the affects of raising your hand against those who have imprisoned you. It was not that she was scared of rising up against the man currently riding ahead of her; it was that she was scared of what he would do to her people if she did so. The Lupine had failed miserably in protecting their village; they had no chance in rebellion.

" _ **Is there something wrong?"**_ she heard the Lieutenant behind her ask. Rin looked up at the Vampir and smiled softly.

" _ **No. I apologize, did I give that impression?"**_ She asked him pleasantly. The moon overhead cast down on his helmet, leaving his face shadowed and hidden from Rin. He seemed slightly uncomfortable at her friendliness and charm but replied to the Lupine princess all the same.

" _ **Your thoughts are very loud, princess."**_ He replied politely. Somewhere in his voice Rin heard a hint of . . . playfulness?

" _ **I'm sorry,"**_ she began, her voice slightly teasing, _**"Might I ask you what I am thinking right now?"**_

He seemed taken aback at the question and his voice became panicked.

" _ **It would be inappropriate for me to invade your thoughts, princess."**_ He said hurriedly. Rin's smile faded.

" _ **Then how were you able to tell my thoughts are loud?"**_ she asked. In the darkness of his helmet, Rin could see the lieutenant's teeth glisten in a pleasant smile.

" _ **We call it 'sharing' in out culture, the ability to read one another's thoughts as well as transmit your own thoughts. It is much like listening to a crowd of people talk, however. Unless you specifically focus in on one voice, or that one voice focuses in on you, for the most part, you cannot hear a person's thoughts."**_

" _ **Even thought I sit so close?"**_

" _ **Yes."**_

" _ **That is very interesting."**_ Rin commented in awe as she stared at the lieutenant. He smiled sheepishly in his helmet. _**"However, I do not see how it is inappropriate for you to listen to my thoughts. Am I not your prisoner?"**_

The lieutenant's smile wilted.

" _ **In our race sharing is a very personal thing to do. For the most part only those that have already mated do so."**_

Rin blushed furiously at the memory of Sesshomaru's voice in her head when her identity as the Lupine Princess was revealed. It was as deep as his normal voice, but somehow the memory of its hollowing echo in her mind made her heart pound.

" _ **Or in My Lord General's case, to give orders."**_

Rin ceased her fantasizing as she slowly turned to regard ahead of her.

" _ **We Lupine are the opposite of your people,"**_ she began explaining as she knotted her hands in her dress, _**"we long very much to be close to one another. In our culture embracing and kissing are ways that we greet each other daily."**_

" _ **Kissing as well!?"**_ the soldier asked, his voice the picture of pure shock.

" _ **Yes,"**_ Rin chuckled as she covered her mouth giddily, _**"even kissing."**_

" _ **How weird."**_

" _ **Your ways of ways of life are strange to us as well, Lieutenant."**_ Rin explained as the man behind her attempted to put together the information he was receiving.

" _ **Yes, well, if you long to be closer to one another than how is it that your people regard making love-"**_

" _ **Lieutenant Tensoumaru (sorry, I just had to have him in here ^ ^')."**_ The darkened voice of General Sesshomaru ceased the two peoples sharing the horse from their musings. Rin turned to regard Sesshomaru as he looked back at the two of them, the lieutenant behind her growing stiff.

" _ **Yes, My Lord General?"**_ the Vampir replied tensely. The man riding a couple meters ahead of them had poison in his gaze as he looked back at them.

" _ **Need this Sesshomaru remind you the place of the Lupine you carry with you?"**_ he asked darkly. Behind her, Rin could hear Tensoumaru swallow slightly.

" _ **N-No, sir."**_ He said as the grip on his reins tightened.

" _ **Then cease your conversing. She is not a friend that is here to socialize with you. She is the leader of our enemy as well as our prisoner. Treat her as such."**_

Tensoumaru nodded slowly as his lips straitened into a line.

" _ **Yes, sir."**_ He said quietly as Sesshomaru turned away from the two of them. His golden eyes caught Rin's brown ones momentarily and something changed in his eyes. It was . . . hunger. Rin's expression turned fearful as Sesshomaru tore his eyes away from hers and continued onwards. Rin released a tense breath as she relaxed in the saddle.

" _ **I apologize."**_ She whispered to the Lieutenant. Behind her, the man remained silent as his gaze stayed forward.

" _ **For what?"**_ he finally whispered back. Rin's heart grew joyful at the Lieutenant's scandalous action of replying and she smiled ever so slightly.

" _ **For getting you in trouble with Mr. Angry-eyebrows in front of us."**_

The Lieutenant chocked on a small giggle and covered his mouth to pass the action off as a cough. Rin giggled slightly herself at the childish name before the two turned back about their business of scanning the plains around them and making up ways to turn the dull scenery into something entertaining. Rin sighed. This was going to be a long horse ride.

 _AN: So, surprise! surprise!, the OC was Tensoumaru. I think he is literally the hottest OC I've come up with and that's why I put him in here. (Also, because Sesshomaru needs some competition.) Wait . . . did I write that out loud!? Weellll, anyways, I really appreciate all of y'alls that have reviewed (to lazy to name but I care all the same!) and I really want to care about you that don't but that's just the thing . . . YOU DON'T. So I encourage reviews! I really wan't to love and recognize all the people that read this! So, please! REVIEWWWWWWWW! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! (Though honestly I'm grateful for all of you guys that read this, thank you very much!)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's Note: I AM SO TIRED. I'm also really sorry that this is all I have to turn in after, like, two weeks. I've been soooo busy with finals and studying and such that I just didn't have enough time nor energy to write. I know, I'm literally the worst person ever. I had originally planned on making this chapter long and have it be the kick-off of the story but since I couldn't really sit down and write I just decided to post what I had and get to the big reveal after I get back from vacation to California. I'm so sorry, guys. I'm just really lazy and tired from school but I promise that I'll get down on this story as soon as I can! ~ Gomen!_

"POV language."

" _ **POV different language."**_

" _POV mental speech."_

" _ **POV different language mental speech."**_

5

The lone figure of the animal overlooking the valley highlighted itself in the full moon rising over the cliff. The hardened cerulean eyes that stared down at the enclosure regarded the chars of the village below with hatred; the sharp glare intermingling with the shadow beneath the beast's brow.

"What is the meaning of this?" the onyx-coated wolf growled sharply. Beneath the coal-furred alpha, the large pack of Lupines watched the smoke rising from their home with loud discontent. Worried whines and soft barks filled the group of werewolf warriors as they regarded their burnt village with a mix of anger and fear.

"My prince!" the loud bark of a slender white wolf sounded over the heads of the canines. The large shoulder blades beneath the alpha's pelt shifted as he turned to the breathless scout.

"There were no *huff huff* bodies, my prince. They were *huff* _taken_."

The pack leader's eyes narrowed dangerously as he turned to glance once more at the devastated condition of the Valley of the Wolves.

"Those Vampir bastards!" he growled, teeth clenched in his muzzle, "I will not forgive them! I will kill the Vampir scum that did this-"

The black wolf winced suddenly as the large red gash in his side was tugged by his movements. Stumbling slightly the werewolf struggled to stay standing as a low whine escaped his muzzle.

"Prince!" the small pack member exclaimed as he rushed to the male Lupine's side. "Are you alright!?"

The injured pack leader looked up from beneath furrowed brows at the concerned scout with a thankful expression.

"I'm alright, Hakkaku," the alpha assured, "where is Ginta?"

The underling hesitated in answering, his main concern being the well being of his prince and general that stood shakily on his paws. Finally, opening his mouth slightly he responded.

"He's down at the village trying to pick up the trail of the Vampirs. He's also trying to find a hint of your sister's scent, my prince."

The alpha's eyes dropped to the ground his eyebrows scrunching in further with concern.

"Rin," he spoke to himself, "I swear to god if they've hurt her-"

"Kouga!"

The black furred wolf looked up as his second in command came sprinting up the overlook through the Lupine soldiers scattered here and there. As he slowed his approach towards the leader, his form began to change, his grey fur shrinking back and the lines of his muscles and body blurring. When he finally came to a stop in front of the alpha he fell into a kneeling position, his form now that of a young steel-grey haired man instead of a wolf. Kouga looked down at Ginta with sharp blue eyes as he knelt before him; even in wolf form Kouga was much bigger than his lieutenant.

"What is it Ginta?" Kouga asked, beside him Hakkaku shifted with the uncomfortable tension.

"I've picked up on the Vampir's scent, Prince Kouga. They left from here about two days ago. They're headed back to CovenHaven."

Kouga nose scrunched up as he snarled.

"Damn! They could already be arriving at CovenHaven but the chances that they're still in the Pitch Caves is better than none. We're lucky those bastards can only travel during the night. "

"You're right," Ginta said, now rising. "Then are we going after them?"

Kouga nodded. "We have much more stamina than any of the horses that the Vampir have. If we run, we'll be able to catch up to them in no time." Kouga informed. The two Lupine at his sides nodded.

"But what about the battle front?" Hakkaku mused. Kouga looked to him.

"Ayame will be able to hold off that Vampir half-breed Inuyasha for a little bit longer. If we go now and get the captives we will be able to return to the front in no time. We can't let them use Rin and the others as hostages. That would turn the tides of the war faster than we could react." Hakkaku nodded and Ginta placed his hands on his hips.

"You can't run in the condition you're in, Kouga." He said sternly. Kouga looked down. The fur atop his nose wrinkled as he considered his condition.

"I'll be fine." He spoke.

Looking up then, Kouga turned to his men, his eyes cold and serious as he regarded the wolves beneath him.

"Everyone!" he called out to the masses. All of the small chattering within the Lupine soldiers ceased. "We're going after the Vampir assholes that did this to our village! We will take back our women and children! We will take back our princess! Are you ready!?" The worry that had recently been travelling between the group of wolves was quickly replaced with anger as howls of agreement filled the air.

"Alright then," Kouga said as he descended from the zenith, "let's go catch us some vampires."

 _T^T I'm sorry it's so short. I'll try and get the next chapter out soon. Please review! It's what keeps me going!_


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's Note: You guys have no idea how excited I am to post this chapter! So while the real adventure of the story has yet to begin I have introduced the bad guy. Unfortunately, in the paragraph I introduce him in I might have gone a little overboard and had to change the rating to M. Sorry. Anyways, this is a long chapter, but I wrote it in a day and I'm happy because of that! ^ ^ Oh, I forgot to mention! In this chapter there are some events and other things I haven't mentioned before! I promise, I'll get to them in future chapters, so don't freak out, okay? Sorry if there are some mistakes. I was desperate to post this and I couldn't review it very well it's so long. ^ ^' Umm. I guess you guys should read this now. Please REVIEW! It makes me happy and encourages me to write!_

 _Once Again:_ _ **THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M.**_

"POV language."

" **POV different language."**

" _POV mental speech."_

" _ **POV different language mental speech."**_

6

" **Lieutenant, why is that you are so kind to me?"** Rin asked. The question caught the soldier off guard as he looked from the towering sandy canyon cliffs enclosing the army to the small princess in his saddle.

" **Kind?"** he asked. Rin smiled slightly and turned to him.

" **You are most definitely not rude to me. Is there any other word to describe your actions?"**

Tensoumaru chuckled.

" **Respectful, maybe?"** he offered. **"I assure you, princess, I have as much as a look of hatred on your kind as the General does. The distaste of the Lupine runs deep in most of the Vampir clans."**

Rin's smile faltered.

" **Is it,"** she hesitated, **"because of the Great Betrayal?"**

" **Yes."**

Brown eyes flickered to pale hands as Rin clenched them into her skirt. Her voice lowered.

"If that is so, then I can understand your hatred well." She whispered to herself.

Tensoumaru remained quiet, eyes glued to the back of his general that rode meters ahead of them, no doubt listening in. He understood even then that his General's hatred towards the Lupine ran deep; possibly deeper than any other Vampir.

" **The caves are in sight, Milord General!"**

Both Rin and her accompaniment looked up in surprise of the scout's call, both catching sight of the gaping black hole in the side of the cliff simultaneously. Rin's eyes grew wide.

"The largest caves in all of Yogen; they are magnificent." Rin whispered in awe. The large cave mouth was at least one-hundred-fifty, no, two-hundred feet wide with as much as three-hundred feet as its height. The darkness that extended into the cavern made all of the air around it ring with its hollowness. If one would speak, Rin would expect, their voice would instantly be sucked away by the depth of the anomaly. Behind her, the whispers of awe and amazement at the sight of the large black opening in the cliff face rung above both the Vampir and the Lupine.

" **You know, you really should teach me the nature of your tongue. You keep speaking in it and I can't understand you one bit."** Tensoumaru commented from behind Rin.

" **I am not trying to hide anything from you, Lieutenant."** she spoke pleasantly. **"I was simply commenting on the caves. They are much bigger than I had imagined."**

" **Is this your first time seeing them?"**

" **Yes. We Lupine avoid coming anywhere near the Black Forest that borders CovenHaven so I have never been this far south."**

" **That is understandable."** The lieutenant agreed. **"This is only the second time I've seen them. They're still just as amazing as the first time."**

Rin nodded slightly to indicate that she'd heard before she turned back to cave. While the great mouth of the chasm was awe-inspiring Rin could also begin to feel the sense of unease running through her people. Being at the caves could only mean one other thing. They were getting closer to CovenHaven.

~ . . . ~

Sesshomaru glanced back at Rin once as the caravan of prisoners began streaming into the shade of the cave. The sun had already rose, the harmful rays kept away from the stream of Vampir by the walls of the canyon surrounding them. The princess's eyes remained glued to the gargantuan opening of the caves, not noticing the gaze of the Vampir General on her as she entered with his lieutenant.

"General, you asked me to report?" the soldier beside him saluted. Sesshomaru looked away from the form of Rin as Tensoumaru helped her off the horse to the soldier standing beside him.

"Have the soldiers already begun setting up camp?"

"Yes, Milord."

"Good. Place this Sesshomaru's tent further away from the rest. Make sure that the Lupine princess is placed there."

The soldier fidgeted under his commander's gaze and his mind ignited with questions, the loudness of the thoughts assaulting Sesshomaru.

"Is there something you didn't understand, soldier?" Sesshomaru asked stoically.

"Sir!" the soldier sweated nervously. "Might I ask why the princess has been staying with Milord General instead of the rest of the prisoners?"

Sesshomaru's mind instantly was flooded with the memory of the Lupine princess' wrist under his mouth. The soldier beside him went rigid as the thoughts of his general became intense. Biting his lip slightly, Sesshomaru pushed the images to the side, the idea of the soldier getting curious and finding out making Sesshomaru cringe.

"That is none of your business, continue with the task that this Sesshomaru has given to you." The general said abruptly. The soldier, startled and somewhat confused, bowed respectively before scurrying to do what his lord had asked, making note not to question his lord again. Sesshomaru released the tension he hadn't realized had built from his body and turned to the mouth of the cave, the sight of his Lieutenant tying his horse to the already set up posts the object of his attention. The princess had no doubt already been taken to his tent so he was not surprised to find the soldier alone. He strode towards him, his white armor grating and his blue cape billowing behind as he walked.

"Tensoumaru," he hailed. The lieutenant looked up from sifting through the saddle-pack on his horse to turn towards Sesshomaru. Hearing the less official address the lieutenant took that as a sign to slip back into his informal position as Sesshomaru's cousin.

"Sesshomaru," he acknowledged simply, hands reaching for the helmet on his head. He pulled off the white head protector with ease, long metallic hair slipping out from the gear in pools of silver. The light from outside the cave gave a glow to the pale visage of the lieutenant, highlighting the blue stripes on his cheeks and the bright gold of his eyes. If not for the distinctive ponytail, the color of his stripes, and the more masculine build and face of the man, one would easily mistake him for the general.

"Have you formed an opinion of the princess?" Sesshomaru asked simply, making it clear that he was very much interested in the deduction the lieutenant had made during his ride with the Lupine. Tensoumaru shrugged, turning away from Sesshomaru and back to his saddle.

"I highly doubt that she has any intention of rebelling. You probably don't need to go through such dramatic means as keeping her in your tent." he spoke to the leather. Sesshomaru watched with heated eyes as the lieutenant continued digging through his pack. "Though, if you're doing it to keep her royal blood from those who have less self-control it's completely understandable."

Sesshomaru frowned.

"You know of her peculiarity?"

Tensoumaru turned from the horse then, facing Sesshomaru with a new –almost bloodthirsty- look in his golden eyes.

"Rare tales of the power and pleasure that come from drinking a Lupine royal are not rare to those that seek such things.

"Are you to say that _you_ seek such things, Tensoumaru?" Sesshomaru's glare narrowed. The two locked eyes as they searched one another of their intentions, each mistrusting. Finally, Tensoumaru chuckled.

"No." he said, "both you and I know that I have no desire for power or ruling, my cousin. However, we both know of one that wants more of such things."

Sesshomaru frowned.

"Naraku."

Sighing, Tensoumaru closed the cover of his pack and hooked the clasp. Unlatching the bag from the saddle he swung it over his shoulder and walked past Sesshomaru. A couple meters away, under his breath but not unheard by Sesshomaru, the Lieutenant spoke.

"If I were you, Sesshomaru, I would keep an eye on that princess when we return to CovenHaven. We all know who the real king of the Vampir is, and it is not Naraku."

~ . . . ~

"Lord Naraku?" the advisor called through the bedroom door. "I'm coming in."

Placing one hand on the large oaken door and the other tightly around the scrolls in his arms Byakuya pushed open the portal and entered the dark room. Being a human, the darkness of the room rendered Byakuya unable to find his lord, however the pleasured moans and coos of human women gave him a rather accurate idea of where he might be.

"Your Majesty?" Byakuya had to call over the giggles and playful cries of the girls. The sounds of the illicit activity echoed throughout the royal chamber for several more moments before suddenly a smooth, deep voice rose above the moans of the women.

"Byakuya," the voice purred darkly, "what did you find so urgent that you needed to interrupt my fun to speak to me?" The voice of the man had no hint of negativity in it as he spoke, instead sounding more pleased, rough, and hungry. Letting out a slight sigh of annoyance, Byakuya made his way through the darkness to the nearest torch. Waving his hand over it, the torch instantly ignited, filling the stone room with light and allowing Byakuya to then see clearly the king sized bed sitting in the middle of it. Light running playfully over the scarlet colored silken sheets, the bed was occupied solely by several women, all bare, and a nude man. The man, pale, muscular and slender was leaning over two of the seven women that were positioned downwards. His long, wavy, black hair cascaded over their forms as they took part in a clearly intimate activity, both the girls huffing and flustered. Byakuya rolled his eyes and kept them averted as he approached the bed with an annoyed frown on his visage.

"Your Majesty," he began agitatedly, "I have just received word from General Sesshomaru."

Naraku smiled slightly as he slowly began moving his hips again. Short, husky, breaths trailed out of his lips in a timely rhythm as he moved. The woman to his left began to pant with pleasure while the one on his right shifted her hips in time with the movement of his hand.

"Sesshomaru, huh?" he said breathlessly. Blushing slightly Byakuya struggled against his curiosity and kept his eyes firmly to the onyx painted post of the bed.

"Y-Yes, Your Majesty." Byakuya stumbled out. "His gargoyle reports that they have taken Wolf Valley."

"Good." Naraku purred, the word mingling hotly with a groan.

"Your Majesty." The girls began to cry out. "Your Majesty~!"

Byakuya blushed fiercely as he realized what was happening and made to delivering his report faster.

"Yes, he reports that it was effortless and all of the wolves have begun to move."

"Your Majesty!"

"Ah! Your Majesty!"

"Move? That is good news. Is there anything else?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"What is it?"

"Oh my god-! Your _Majesty_."

"I'm com- ah~!"

"S-Sesshomaru has reported that he has also captured the Lupine Princess."

Pulling his fangs out of the neck of the woman on the left, Naraku instantly ceased his movements and directed his attention fully to his assistant.

"The princess?" Naraku asked, his face becoming serious as a dark smirk began forming on his bloodstained lips. His bangs clung to his face as slowly he pulled his hand away from the woman on his right and moved his hips away from the woman on his left. Taking a spare crimson sheet from the mass of women he wrapped it around his lower half as he rose from the bed; the hands of the women trailing after the sweat layered form of his body, begging him to return.

"Interesting," he spoke as he walked past Byakuya to the large desk in the corner. Pulling the chair out from under the table, he whipped it around and seated himself, raising the letter that had previously been in the folds of Byakuya's scrolls up into the light. Byakuya looked from his scrolls to the Vampir then back to the scrolls, the fast movement of the king barely registering in his mind. The Vampir King fell silent as he regarded the letter written neatly in the print of his general.

"Indeed, the princess." Naraku confirmed more enthusiastically, a smile now tugging at the sides of his lips. "Wonderful."

Tossing the letter to the other large piles of papers on his desk Naraku then rose again, making his way back to the women on his bed. They squealed as he removed the sheet covering his manhood and approached.

"Tell Kikiyo what you have just told me, Byakuya." He ordered as he climbed back into the mass of women.

"Sir, you don't pay me enough for this." Byakuya whined. Naraku chuckled heartily before sliding back over the two women he had been pleasuring previously. His hips thrusted viciously back into the woman on the left as his hands once again found the woman on the right. The other women around instantly began to run their hangs over Naraku as they begged for attention as well. Huffing lightly Naraku turned to Byakuya with a playful look in his eyes.

"I'll give you a raise." He said teasingly. Rolling his eyes, Byakuya organized his scrolls once more before turning towards the door and making his exit. As the door closed behind him, the assistant could see once more the light of the torch diminishing and sending the bedroom into darkness.

"I deserve a rather large raise," Byakuya mumbled as a blush flushed across his cheeks, "especially when you order me to talk to your wife after I've just caught you with almost eight prostitutes."

~ . . . ~

Rin's ears twitched nervously as she watched the silhouette of the general painted against the side of the tent. Once again, Rin had been placed in the large tent whilst the general sat outside of it, hunched over a fire. The general's tent had been placed the farthest back out of all the tents, and at the distance they were from the mouth of the cave the only light that could be used to see was the light of the flame, the nature of the Pitch Caves true to its name.

Rubbing her finger tenderly over her wrist she felt faintly the beat of her heart through her veins. Looking at the pale patch of skin Rin instantly began to wonder why Sesshomaru had done what he had done. To Rin's knowledge most Lupine did not taste pleasurable to Vampir that drank from them. Was it because she was royalty? Rin had been able to hear the conversation held between the general and Tensoumaru as she was being taken to the tent. She did not, however, understand half of what had been said and had been left with more questions than answers from doing so. What did Tensoumaru mean when he said 'those who have less self-control'? Was royal Lupine blood different from normal Lupine blood? Who was this Naraku character? And if not him, who was the real king? Rin laid in the large cot on the floor of the tent completely unable to sleep with all the questions rushing through her mind.

"What does it all mean?" she questioned to herself. "Will it effect those for whom I care for?"

" **Princess."**

Hearing the hail from outside the tent Rin instantly sat up, pulling the comforter from her bare legs. Instantly she pulled the hem of her riding up nightgown down, embarrassed of what the cloth revealed. Without noticing she instantly began to fix the small tufts of hair that stuck out on her head and tail.

Letting out a small breath, Rin pulled aside the entry flap to the tent and exited. A mere meter away the general sat next to a small campfire, small creatures –no doubt bats- perched on sticks in front of him. The smell of the cooked meat instantly made Rin's mouth water and her stomach growl. Flustering slightly when she noticed the gaze of Sesshomaru she made her to him, wanting not to have him wait any longer.

" **Eat."** He commanded simply as he motioned towards the bats. Rin sucked in her bottom lip before nodding and sitting down the opposite side of the fire from Sesshomaru. She took the cooked bat and slowly raised it to her lips.

" **You are to forget the actions of this Sesshomaru performed yesterday night."** The general spoke suddenly. Rin's eyes grew wide as she looked up to the man in disbelief. His eyes were locked onto hers with an animalistic fierceness. Gulping slightly, Rin lowered the bat away from her mouth.

" **Might I ask you a question first, General Sesshomaru?"**

His eyes remained as constant as his silence, a sign to continue. Rin took a small breath before setting down her bat and folding her hands over one another.

" **Why is it . . . that you attempted to drink from me?"** Rin questioned. Sesshomaru went stiff before suddenly standing. Before Rin could register the general had already turned his back to her and entered the tent. A sudden courage sprung from her curiosity filled Rin as she stood as well and followed Sesshomaru into the tent. He had been staring at the small collection of swords in the corner when Rin approached him.

" **Please, General,"** Rin spoke, **"tell me. Is there something I should know about royal Lupine blood? Will it bring about any harm to my people?"**

Sesshomaru whipped around to face Rin, suddenly very close and towering over her.

" **Your people?"** he spat. **"I would be concerned more for yourself, princess."**

Sesshomaru stepped forward, instinctively causing Rin to step back and her ears to flatten in submission.

" **W-why?"** she questioned, her courage quickly dwindling. Sesshomaru's eyes flashed red.

" **Because your blood is poisonous."** Sesshomaru spoke as he stepped forward again. Rin stepped back.

" **Poisonous?"** Rin whispered.

" **It draws us, tempts us with its impure promise of power and pleasure. A poison of the deadliest kind."**

" **Is that why the king will want it? Because it tastes good?"**

A dark chuckle escaped Sesshomaru as he stepped forward once more.

" **Foolish girl. Naraku will want you for the power that comes from draining every drop of blood in your body. You will die when we reach CovenHaven, that I can promise."**

Fear flooded Rin's heart as she attempted to step back once more, her back hitting the supportive post in the center of the tent. Sesshomaru was on her then, his left hand leaning against the post above her head and his face suddenly mere centimeters from hers. He breathed on Rin, his air tickling her cheek as he slowly angled his head towards her neck. The cool feel of his breath made Rin shiver and blush madly as his other hand found its way to the hem of her nightgown. Sesshomaru's eyes were red now, and filled with an animalistic madness the kind Rin had only seen in a wild beast. His fingertips brushed her thighs and Rin almost collapsed from the sensation.

" **A poison,"** Sesshomaru whispered into her neck, **"a temptation I've failed to ignore."**

Rin nearly moaned when Sesshomaru's hand reached her undergarments but stopped when a sound reached her ears. Instantly the small brown triangles on top her head angled behind her to the entrance of the tent.

" **General Sesshomaru,"** Rin struggled to pant out as Sesshomaru began licking the tense skin near her collarbone. **"G-general,"** Rin huffed. Slowly she brought her hands to the chest plate of his armor. **"P-please."** She begged. Something seemed to snap in Sesshomaru, because the second the word tumbled out of her mouth his eyes returned to gold and he pulled away from her. Rin fell to her knees, the strange sensation raging in her stomach still hot.

" **A- a noise."** She panted out. Rin's ears were still slightly wilted down as she struggled to get up, a blush flooding her face. Sesshomaru could only stare at her in muted shock as she did so, his golden eyes wide and blank. **"General,"** she tried, her attention slowly becoming more focused as the sound became louder. **"General, listen!"** Rin said, now panicked, as she leapt to her feet and gripped Sesshomaru by the shoulders.

" **What?"** Sesshomaru barely managed to ask as he battled with his lust and self-disgust. Rin shook him, attempting –now frantically- to gain his attention.

" **Sesshomaru, your men are being attacked!"** Rin cried, now beating against his chest. Sesshomaru blinked, suddenly returning to life. As he focused he could hear the sound of screams and battle coming form the camp. Looking down to the still flustered princess once, he said nothing as he pushed past her and rushed towards the tent exit.

" **G-general?"** Rin questioned, unsure of what to do. Sesshomaru made it clear as he turned to her, eyes red now with fury.

" **Stay. Here."** He ordered. Rin could find herself doing nothing else but that. Even, when she knew that the people attacking were none other than her brother and his army. Even when she knew she had to escape at all costs. Even when her heart screamed at her to run with all of its might, all she could do was stand there, immobile.

O_O REVIEW.


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's Note: Sooooo . . . I don't really have an excuse for not updating earlier. ^ ^ Sorry, guys! I know I suck. Either way, thank all of you guys soooooo much for the reviews and the views and the favorites and the everything else! It really encourages me to keep writing when you guys review so thanks again! It is 3:55 in the morning where I am right now, so I'm rather tired. =_= However, drinking stuff, listening to Block B and Big Bang, and wanting to update has kept me going! I had actually started writing this chapter about a week ago but today I looked at what I wrote and realized I kinda hated it. So, I deleted it completely and re-wrote it today! I hope since it's a longer chapter you guys will forgive me for being so late in updating! Anyways, please REVIEW! IT'S MY LIFE BLOOD!_

"POV language."

 **"POV different language."**

" _POV mental speech."_

 ** _"POV different language mental speech."_**

7

Kouga's eyes scrutinized through the crowds and chaos of burning tents and escaping Lupine in search of the familiar heart-shaped face of his little sister. Biting his lips in frustration, the Lupine alpha let out a small sigh of discontent. Where was she? His mind was restless with the endless negative outcomes that might have befallen his only surviving family member. Clenching his fists, Kouga resumed his search, his nose and eyes alert for the presence of his sibling. The aura seeping from the general's body as he strolled through the battle made many of the Vampir soldiers nearby shudder in fear, the feel pooling off of the body of the powerful Lupine parallel only to that of their own general. The Vampir knew; this man was dangerous and not to be trifled with by any other than Sesshomaru. Taking no notice to the avoidance by the Vampir soldiers around him, Kouga continued on his trek through the enemy camp. He finally stopped when the realization that Rin was not in the camp solidified in his mind.

"Ginta, Hakkaku," Kouga barked suddenly, drawing the attention of his right-hand men brawling near by instantly. The two broke apart from their opponents and rushed to their leader without hesitance.

"Yes, Lord Kouga?" the spoke simultaneously.

"I want the two of you to search the campsite once more. I am going to head farther back into the caverns to see if I can locate Rin there."

"Yes, Lord Kouga!"

Kouga nodded at the pair once before crouching down to the ground, fingers of his right hand stretching across the rough surface of the cave floor as he descending into a starting position; the muscles in his legs tightened as he prepared to launch himself deeper into the cave. Taking a breath to gather his strength, Kouga closed his eyes in concentration. A moment of slow breaths passed before the orbs sprung open, flashing icy blue before his feet dug angrily into the ground and he propelled himself forward. The pure Lupine blood running through his veins pulsed quickly in Kouga as he blew through the campsite in the blink of an eye, his movements resembling that of a tornado tearing through the countryside. Soldiers from both sides were blown away as the Lupine general tore towards the back of the cave, cries of pain and surprise rising up from the area left behind the prince.

Kouga's eyes were wide with concentration as he bulleted deeper into the cave, searching feverously for any sign of his sister. Black blurs rushed past him as rocks from the cave walls remained the only thing in his vision. Biting his lip and letting out and angry growl, Kouga was nearly ready to kill. However, as a yellow blur of a campfire flashed suddenly to his attention Kouga let out a small gasp, his feet digging into the ground in an attempt to stop his momentum. A long, thin trail was left behind Kouga as he came to an unsteady stop. The Lupine general was breathing hard as his eyes focused on the small, solitary tent near a chasm further to the back of the cave. If not for the acuteness of his Lupine senses, Kouga would not have been able to see the chasm nor the tent. Nor would he have been able to detect the strong scent of his sister coming from the campsite ahead.

A small smile gracing his lips, Kouga's heart ignited with the hope of seeing his sister again. He broke out into a happy jog towards the tent as the scent of Rin became stronger and stronger in his nose, not noticing the faint scent of his enemy that mingled with his sister's until he was mere meters away from the camp. The smile on Kouga's face froze when the suddenly overwhelming scent of Sesshomaru engulfed him. Ducking on instinct, Kouga narrowly avoided the blade rocketing towards his neck as the Vampir general seemingly materialized from behind him.

Hands smacking against the ground, the Lupine propelled himself forward in a summersault, twisting in the air so that, as he landed, he could face his opponent head on. However, Kouga was barely able to catch a glimpse of the Vampir before the lightning fast, silver haired beast was on him again. Holding up his iron gauntlets to his side, Kouga barely managed to ward off the fierce blow Sesshomaru sent towards the left of his face with his sword. The Lupine prince's feet skidded against the ground as he was pushed back by the attack for several meters. A growl erupted in Kouga's throat as his gaze snapped up towards Sesshomaru as he slowly approached him, his normally golden eyes burning now a deep crimson.

~ . . . ~

Sesshomaru couldn't stop the Vampiric hiss from escaping his lips in response to Kouga's animalistic growl of challenge. Holding his sword, Tokijin, firmly in front of him, Sesshomaru glared at the young Lupine with condescension plain in his gaze.

"GIVE ME RIN!" the Lupine prince growled. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed further as he broke out into a sprint towards the wolf, ignoring his demand as he sent another attack towards the Lupine's neck. Kouga's leg sprung up, the unbreakable material of his shin blades clashing loudly with Sesshomaru's sword as he blocked the slash. Wasting no time, Sesshomaru brought back his left fist and delivered a staggering blow to the Lupine prince's bare midsection, his body twisting forward as he attacked with no Vampir strength held back. Blood exploded from Kouga's mouth as Sesshomaru's fist connected with his vitals. Breaking away from Sesshomaru, Kouga retreated several meters to recuperate from the blow.

" **B-bastard,** **"** Kouga muttered, wiping the trail of blood from his lips. Sesshomaru's hand twitched with anticipation, wanting to feel the break of Kouga's body beneath it once more.

"This Sesshomaru is lowering himself when he says he will be disappointed if you believe you can win this battle, Kouga." Sesshomaru spoke, his voice tense. "Even on the battlefield to the east you were not able to defeat this Sesshomaru. He hopes you do not believe you can now."

"You sure are talking a lot, Sesshomaru," Kouga chuckled darkly, ignoring the way Sesshomaru's anger flared in his eyes. "Don't tell me you're nervous?"

"Of what, wolf? You hold no power against this Sesshomaru; not at the foot of the eastern mountains and not here."

"Bringing up past battles is a defense mechanism, General. Is it because, for once in your glorified, self-centered, Vampiric life someone has actually managed to take your army by surprise?"

Sesshomaru's red eyes grew dark with anger.

"Watch your mouth, Lupine brat." Sesshomaru snapped. Kouga didn't have enough time to respond as Sesshomaru suddenly appeared in front of him, blade raised.

"STOP IT!"

Sesshomaru froze as the sound of Rin's scream echoed through the cavern. His mind instantly reeled in surprise as he looked at his sword, inches away from Kouga's throat, now stayed by the Princess's word.

A moment of surprise and silence passed between the two combatants before, eyes flashing in a split-second decision, Kouga lunged forward and shot his foot into Sesshomaru's abdomen. Shock registered in Sesshomaru's eyes as he felt the breath leave him and he was rocketed across the cavern space. Many meters away his body smacked down into the ground and his broken body rolled uncontrollably towards the edge of the sudden drop in the cave.

Sesshomaru had only been hit by the Lupine prince's kick once before during their battles, this was on the battlefield to the east. He was younger then, as was Kouga who was roughly the same age as him, and he had let his guard down for one second during a fight they were having atop a hill. At the time his body was weaker so he wasn't surprised that when the Lupine-powered kick connected it broke several of his ribs, ruptured several organs, and sent him flying yards away. However, he did not expect the Lupine general's kick to still have the same impact on his body now as it did back then. Blood exiting violently from his mouth Sesshomaru began chocking on the red substance as his body came to a halt just on the edge of the precipice, his mind spiraling into black.

~ . . . ~

Rin gasped in horror as Sesshomaru's body stopped rolling just on the edge of the cavern's downward descent, her eyes suddenly wide and fearful as his body made no move to get back up. She had done that, her mind reeled. She had distracted him and had caused him to get injured. However, as Kouga recovered from the powerful attack and began cradling his mid-section as he fell to his knees, Rin understood that if she had not stopped Sesshomaru he would have killed her brother. Eyes growing sad, Rin took one last glance at Sesshomaru before she rushed quickly to her brother's side.

"Brother," she spoke in their native tongue, "are you unharmed?"

Kouga looked up as Rin approached and quickly stood up, ignoring the immense pain in his stomach area as he moved in and embraced his sister. Placing small kisses on her forehead and hair Kouga basked in the fact that his sister was safe.

" _Am I unharmed_?" he chuckled, "I should be asking you the same thing, Rin." Kouga chuckled slightly, worry loud in his voice.

"I am fine." Rin said quietly. Kouga rested his chin atop of Rin's head as he cradled her in his arms. Rin suddenly had to hold back tears as the events from the past two days began taking its toll on her.

"I was so scared, Kouga." Rin whispered into her brother's chest. "Why did Sesshomaru capture all of the villagers? Why the women and children? I thought the battle was being fought near the mountains to the east, why did they attack the valley?"

Kouga sighed.

"The Vampir leader, Naraku, probably wanted to use you and the people as hostages."

"But why now? Why didn't they attack earlier in the war if they wanted to try and use us as hostages?"

Kouga frowned slightly as his brows drew together.

"I don't know, Rin. I don't know." His voice grew quiet. The two stayed embracing each other for several more moments before Kouga pulled away and gripped Rin by the shoulders.

"Either way," he said, his blue eyes now meeting her brown ones, "we need to leave. Ginta and Hakkaku are searching the campsite for you now, but I'm sure the two of them have already evacuated all the people in the carts."

"They're safe? The people are safe?" Rin asked, eyes wide. Kouga flashed one of his trademark smirks.

"You bet, Little Princess." He spoke light-heartedly. Rin beamed at her brother.

"You ready to go?" Kouga asked as he dropped his hands to his sides. Rin felt herself about to nod before a sudden realization struck at her heart. Instantly, she whipped around to look at Sesshomaru's unconscious body near the chasm edge. The Vampir general was without his armor as he lay helplessly on the ground. The large bulk of white metal that normally protected him was absent during the fight against her brother and Rin was very much aware of her sibling's leg strength from seeing him practice. Even for a Vampir, she was more than sure that if she didn't help him he would die from the internal injury.

"Brother," she said, her voice light and sad, "I have to help him."

Kouga's eyes darkened.

"Absolutely not." He retorted sharply. Rin turned to look up at her brother, her eyes large and pleading. Kouga stared seriously into Rin's gaze as he wrapped a hand around his mid-section.

"It was a miracle I beat that man in the first place, Rin. The last time we fought and I was actually able to land a kick he still managed to get back up and defeat me. I don't want to tempt fate, Rin. Leave him be." Kouga spoke, his voice reasoning.

His tone was one that Rin recognized as his "mature adult" tone. He normally used it to scold Rin or tell her advice. Because the two had lost their parents at a young age Kouga had to take on the job of being Rin's parental figure despite being her brother; Rin had heard this tone many times as they had grown up together. However, as she looked as the form of the Vampir general, crumpled against the ledge she couldn't fight the incessant need to help him raging in her heart. He had been kind to her. Yes, Rin realized, he had tried to drink from her. However, if there really was an allure to royal Lupine blood that Rin hadn't realized before then how could she blame him? Besides, other than that Sesshomaru had been rather pliable with Rin, which, from seeing how Sesshomaru acted towards his own soldiers, Rin could tell was not something that the Vampir General did often.

Stealing her gaze, Rin looked into the crystal blue of her brother's eyes, the stern gems illuminated by the campfire near by.

"Brother," she said determinedly, "I am going to help him."

Kouga's eyes widened at the steel his normally complacent sister presented in her eyes, and, before he could register what was happening, Rin was already on her way to Sesshomaru's side. Kouga ground his teeth in annoyance before jogging after his sister.

"Rin," he called, "stop! Get away from him!" However, the words hung emptily in the air as Rin reached the unconscious Vampir and kneeled beside him.

"Brother," she said levelly, "this man doesn't deserve to die. Both you and I know that if we leave him here that is what will happen. He may have captured me, but the last two days he has been nothing but aware of me and my needs. I cannot replace his consideration with abandonment."

Kouga stared down at his sister hard, measuring the risks of saving his enemy in his mind. Seeing his sister begin to peel away the shirt of the broken man, he sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.

"Fine," he said, "but only a quick patch-up to make sure that he doesn't die, okay? Any little scratch past that the Vampir medic that finds him can take care of."

Rin smiled at her brother's acceptance before lowering her head to the stomach of the Vampir and focusing her Lupine hearing on finding any ruptures in his organs. Frowning slightly she sat up and began feeling around his ribs for breaks.

"Brother," she said, not turning away from her newly acquired patient, "go to the tent behind me and find me a red box that smells like bandages and gauze. I'm going to need it for his ribs. Also, can you find me the canister filled with bat blood? He needs to drink, desperately."

Kouga stared at his sister in disbelief.

"You're asking me . . . to find a bottle filled with blood for a vampire so that he can drink it to get better? Rin, that is literally against every Lupine law I've ever heard of-"

"Kouga, please!" Rin groaned.

The black ears on top of Kouga's head wilted slightly before he sighed and began trudging begrudgingly towards the small campsite behind them. Rin ignored the small muttering of complaints from her brother as she once again lowered her head to listen to Sesshomaru's mid-section. By the sound of the injury, the attack itself wasn't enough to send him into unconsciousness. However, Rin had seen his body be thrown across the cave and she wouldn't be surprised if the Vampir general had hit the back of his head when he crashed and had fallen unconscious that way. Rin finally allowed a frown of worry to grace her features. Laying her head on his chest Rin began a more detailed inspection of the Vampir's ribs. Moving her fingers tenderly against each row of his cage Rin listened and felt for any cracks or breaks in the bones. She counted in her head as she went: One . . . two . . . three, four . . . five . . . six and seven . . . possibly an eighth . . . and a ninth. Sighing, Rin pulled away from Sesshomaru.

While, Rin was not a healer professionally, she did like to think of herself as possibly the best in her valley. She had been interested in the healing arts since childhood and had studied continuously on the subject for both the Lupine and Vampir body. She practiced with real healers and patients and had a multitude of experience accumulated over her twenty years of life. She was rather proud of her abilities to heal people, but even that was not enough to ensure that she could save the man in front of her in his current state. Mind now deep in worry and insecurity, Rin paid no mind to the ominous cracking noise that had begun to escalate around her.

"Rin," her brother's call summoned her from her musings, "I found the things you were looking for. Hurry up and heal him so we can leave."

Rin smiled slightly in appreciation but froze when suddenly Sesshomaru's crimson eyes snapped open. Shock overtook her as well as Kouga who stood several yards away but before either of them could react a final, loud _CRACK_ was heard as the ground beneath Rin and Sesshomaru gave way.

"RIN!" Kouga screamed as he lunged for the portion of the ledge sinking into the abyss. Rin couldn't find the voice to scream as she, as well as the man beside her, fell into the depths of the Pitch Caves. Tears began forming at the rims of her brown eyes as the sight of her brother, arm reaching out towards her as he clung to the edge of the chasm, slowly grew farther and farther away.

As she descended into black Rin could only manage one word.

"Help."

* * *

 _Ooh! Exciting, right? Anyhow, I would like to thank some people for their reviews ('cause all the other author's do that and I feel like a fuck-face for not)! "Thank you very much!" to:_

 **Moka-Chan8 (THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR THE SUPPORT! You were my first comment and you always do comment and it makes me happy! ^ ^)**

 **jj**

 **Carmen**

 **Kat**

 **Canori**

 **Mi Ling Chi (Thanks for the grammar comment! ^ ^ [it's a belated thanks but one that needs to be said])**

 **overninethousand**

 **darkstar2010**

 **Angelical love**

 **L.M.T.O.P**

 **Mary**

 **Madame Liu**

 **Kibachow**

 **Ladyrouge214**

 **.77**

 **Taraah36**

 **Esperanza Lane**

 **blood red night**

 **PAMILA DE CASTRO (I don't speak Portuguese but I thank you sooo much for the comments! It makes me happy to know that you like my story! ^ ^)**

 **Obsessed Dreamer**

 _Big thanks to everyone! I love you guys! :D_


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's Note: All I can really say is sorry. Your gonna have to wait another chapter to see what happens to Sesshomaru and Rin. ;P_

"POV language."

" **POV different language."**

" _POV mental speech."_

" _ **POV different language mental speech."**_

8 (Part 1)

" _Mama, how come I don't have a papa like my friends? Did he disappear like Jinenji's papa?"_

 _Izayoi looked down at the small boy whose hair she was brushing. A small frown played her lips as she ran her fingers tenderly through the white strands of her son's mane. The two sat alone in the garden of Sakura trees, occupying a small bench under a particularly large bloom. The boy sat in the folds of the woman's white dress, his head in her lap as his mother raked her porcelain fingers through his white tresses._

" _I guess you could say that." Izayoi said, her cheery voice disguising the pain in her answer. "Your papa was a very strong and beautiful man, but one day he had to leave you and me."_

 _Inuyasha pulled away from his mother's grooming, turning so that his bright golden eyes could meet hers._

" _Where did he go?"_

 _Izayoi's face grew pained as she reached for her son's face. She stroked his smooth cheeks before leaning in and placing a chaste kiss between the two columbine wolf ears crowning his head. Her own pair of black ears flicked pleasantly as she focused in on the sound of his heartbeat, the strong soothing rhythm of the sound painfully reminding her of her late husband's._

" _You have his heart." She whispered suddenly. An unexpected tear raced down Izayoi's cheek._

" _Mama?" Inuyasha spoke quietly, his tiny hand reaching up to pat his mother's head. Heart fluttering with love, the widowed Lupine bent down and scooped up her son, rising from the bench as she spun around with him firm in her embrace. Inuyasha giggled in delight as his mother twirled, her own chiming laugh echoing in his ears._

" _I love you, Inuyasha!" Izayoi squealed as the two collapsed into a patch of grass near their bench. Brushing a piece of her now messy hair out of her face, Inuyasha leaned down and licked his mother's cheek affectionately, catching the tear with his tongue in a soothing Lupine kiss._

" _I love you too, mama!" Inuyasha responded as he nestled into her bosom. Izayoi's onyx tail swished back and forth contently as the two fell asleep in the grass, not noticing the dark figure standing to the side of the secluded palace courtyard with a sharp sadistic smirk strewn across his face._

Inuyasha gasped as he snapped up from his cot, sweat beading his face and his bare chest. His breath was labored as he placed a hand on his mid-section, hissing when the sudden action disturbed the wound across his abdomen. He cursed to himself when he noticed the blood begin to dot the bandages around the injury. Miroku was not going to be happy. Letting out an annoyed sigh, Inuyasha threw his legs over the side of the elevated cot and stood up, ignoring the pain in his middle with an angry twitch of his ears.

Feet tapping against the carpet, the General crossed the expanse of his tent, his mind set on dressing himself. Reaching a large trunk on the other side of the room, he threw it open and swiped for the first shirt his eyes found. His abdominal muscles strained as he pulled the cloth over his head and down his tight eight-pack.

Satisfied with the plain, sand-colored undershirt, Inuyasha then turned to the binding wraps strewn across the desk near his bed. He went to them, and in a swift movement, had the cloth wrapped around his head, pulling down tightly on his Lupine ears. He reached, then, for a blood-colored scarf that sat in the corner of the desk. Placing the flat of the scarf over the bindings, Inuyasha then tied it under his hair, effectively hiding the bindings with his bandanna.

When the action was complete, and Inuyasha was sure his ears were bound in a way he could still hear, he grabbed his chainmail and began strapping on his armor. He was grateful that the only traits that he had gotten from his mother were her Lupine ears and not her tail. With a tail he would have to wear twice as many binding wraps, and Inuyasha was barely keeping himself from loosing his mind with just the ones on his ears. The metal clinked as Inuyasha attached all the clips and tied all the straps.

Inuyasha's armor was a fierce crimson color, much unlike that of his older brother's which was pure white. Inuyasha was told when he first received the outfit from his mother that it had previously been his father's and was passed down to him through Izayoi. He smiled slightly as he finished attaching his chest plate and grabbed his sword, another heirloom from his father.

The enchanted sword's name was Tessaiga, sibling sword to Inuyasha's older brother Sesshomaru's sword, Tenseiga. The two were equally as powerful as the other for separate reasons, yet –all in all-Inuyasha's sword tended to cause more destruction on the battlefield. This mostly had to do with Tenseiga's main function being healing and Tessaiga's to destroy. A feat that Inuyasha knew his older brother hated. Inuyasha rarely saw the blade on Sesshomaru while he commanded the troops and went into battle. The head general made it clear to all that he was not happy with his father's decision of which sword to pass to him.

Letting loose a sigh, Inuyasha left his tent, only to be instantly assaulted by Miroku.

"Wow, took you quite a long time to wake up, now didn't it, Inuyasha?" the human lieutenant cried as he instantly joined Inuyasha in walking towards the food tent.

"Get off my back, Miroku." Inuyasha growled as a vein appeared on his forehead.

All around the two the camp was filled with the clamor of soldiers getting ready for the day. Steam filled the air as fires were extinguished and it mingled with the fog that descended on the camp from the mountains just to the east. The scent of bread and porridge filled the air and it mingled with the scent of warm blood as they exited the food tent. The bread and porridge was for the human soldiers and the blood for the Vampir ones. All overhead the sky was overcast, giving freedom to the Vampir to exit their tents during the day without having sunlight as a potential threat. Inuyasha's golden eyes searched the sky as he considered the clouds.

"How long do you think those are gonna be in the sky?" Inuyasha asked his lieutenant, keeping his eyes glued to the clouds. Miroku smiled, content in knowing that Inuyasha was asking for his expert opinion.

"The lookout on the mountain said that the ones overhead right now were large enough to go on for about a week. Aren't we lucky that it's monsoon season, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked cheerily. Inuyasha rolled his eyes. The two had reached the food tent, and Inuyasha had entered eagerly as his nose took in the scent of the warmed up blood the cooks were serving.

"Jenenji!" Inuyasha hailed happily as he approached the cook. The bulking man looked up from the pot of animal blood he had been stirring to his commanding general and childhood friend.

"I-Inuyasha." the cook acknowledged quietly. While Jenenji was easily the largest man in all of the camp, every soldier knew that he was also the shyest and was very soft-spoken. Not a single one of the soldiers that had been on the battlefield for more than 20 years allowed any form of bullying towards the man. Not for his size, and not for him being a half-human, half-Vampir child.

That was what made Inuyasha the proudest general the Vampir had had yet. His troops respected him more than any other. Not a single one allowed slanders against Jenenji for being half-human nor Inuyasha for being a half-Lupine. The two had proved their capabilities long ago and ever since the soldiers respected both. That –of course- did not apply to Sesshomaru. While he did show a semblance of acknowledgement towards Inuyasha for being a great leader and warrior, he would always despise him for being the half-Lupine "mistake" of his father.

Inuyasha pushed away his temporary thoughts of his brother and made his way to the small table Jenenji's pot sat atop of. Next to it, another table sat, with bowls and spoons piled up, ready to feed the hungry men that wandering into the mess hall.

"What you got cooking?" he asked enthusiastically. Jenenji smiled tamely.

"It's deer." He spoke.

Miroku gagged.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes at his lieutenant's antics and grabbed a bowl off of the table next to him along with a spoon. Behind him, the Vampir soldiers that had managed to wake began lining up. Miroku paled.

"That very morbid pot of tomato soup is nice and all, Inuyasha," Miroku rushed sarcastically, "however, I am more in the mood for some good old fashioned bread and porridge so I'll see you after I join the other human's in their line." Inuyasha growled at the lieutenant as he scampered away.

"Stop being such a whimp, Miroku." He barked at the retreating man. Behind him, the Vampir soldiers began laughing, used to –and rather eager for- the antics of their two commanding officers in the morning. Miroku simply waved the comment off and got in line with the other human soldiers.

"Here you go, Inuyasha." Jenenji said as he offered a now filled bowl of blood after having taken Inuyasha's empty one. Inuyasha nodded appreciatively and took the meal before leaving the line and finding a table. Grabbing the spoon, Inuyasha dipped it into the crimson soup and held it up to his mouth. The utensil was mere millimeters away from his mouth before Inuyasha was stopped by the sound of something crashing into the ground outside the mess hall.

At first, nothing happened, and all the people in the tent froze. But then, panting with exhaustion, a small green gargoyle barreled into the room, a letter clutched tightly to his chest and his eyes wide with urgency.

Inuyasha rose from his seat and instantly Miroku was by his side. The gargoyle, seeing the man, instantly ran to him.

"Jaken?" Inuyasha asked, eyebrow raised.

"Why hello to you as well, _half-breed_." Jaken snapped, a vein popping out on his head. Around the room, the soldiers grew tense, most of them angry at the gargoyle's name-calling.

"This better be good, Jaken, or else I really might have to kill you this time. Trust me, without that bastard Sesshomaru here to cover for you it'll be easy." Inuyasha growled. Jaken paled slightly but stood firm.

"I wouldn't put it past you to have to wait until _after_ Lord Sesshomaru leaves to attack his vassals, Inuyasha." Jaken proclaimed. "After all, he _is_ much stronger than you. Your tiny little half-breed brain probably couldn't come up with a better way to aim for my life."

"Oh, trust me, gargoyle, your life won't be the only thing he'll be aiming for when he comes after you." A soldier cried from the back of the line of Vampir. Jaken turned red.

"Silence, you fool-"

" _Jaken_." Inuyasha growled as he placed a firm, clawed hand on the head of the small green animal. " _Tell me what you came here for before a snap your head off_."

Jaken gulped and from the human line a small cheer was heard.

"H-His Majesty wants you back at CovenHaven." Jaken squeaked. The room erupted with the sound of surprise and shock.

"Why would he want that? Sesshomaru _just_ left. Why wouldn't he want Inuyasha on the front lines to keep the war stable?" Miroku gaped.

"Because Sesshomaru might be dead." Inuyasha spoke quietly, his eyes glued to the letter in his hand in disbelief. The room instantly quieted and Jaken's eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"Wh-"

"Miroku," Inuyasha cut off his lieutenant, "you're in charge while I'm gone." Miroku's eyes grew wide as Inuyasha raced out of the tent. The stunned second-in-command ran after him.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait- I'M IN CHARGE?" Miroku cried as he struggled to keep up with Inuyasha's pace as he strode towards the horse stable.

"Yes, Miroku, _you_. Unless there's some other Miroku around here that's ranked high enough to command an army."

"B-but, Inuyasha! I can't do it! No one here respects me enough to follow me! Not even that pretty woman in the 5th division respects me, and everyone says that she'll follow any man that talks to her-"

"I HEARD THAT YOU JACKASS!" A woman called out form nearby as a gauntlet was thrown at Miroku's head. Miroku rubbed the spot as he stopped next to Inuyasha as he prepared his horse.

"I'm serious, Inuyasha," Miroku said, his voice suddenly stern, "I can't do this." Inuyasha turned to Miroku and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, you can. Just do what you normally do."

"Go after women?"

" _No_ , you idiot," Inuyasha growled in annoyance, "command."

"Actually, half-breed," Jaken said, appearing on the post next to Inuyasha's horse. "His Majesty is sending Bankotsu and his men to relieve you –obviously because you're severely lacking in the mind- and he wants you to bring the perverted human along with you."

Inuyasha and Miroku went speechless.

"He wants me (Inuyasha) to bring this idiot (me)!?" the cry of mixed voices floated out of the stable.

 _Thanks for reading! I'll update soon! ^ ^REVIEW. PLEASE. OMG. PLEASE._


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's Note: Dear FanFiction Readers, I thank you for reading my FanFiction, reviewing, favoriting, and following my story. I thank you for all the views, and the PM's. I thank you for sticking with this story, and I pray that I can continue this story awesomely. In your name I type, Amen._

"POV language."

" **POV different language."**

" _POV mental speech."_

" _ **POV different language mental speech."**_

8 (Part 2)

(One day before Inuyasha departs)

Kouga stared long into the vast darkness of the pit; the void so deep and dark that if he were to say something into the gaping chasm the sound of it would surely be lost in the enormity. Behind the tall male, campfires set up around the cave floor casted his shadow unto the opposite wall. The dark shape swirled this way and that in a dance, the fire behind being blown side to side.

Sighing, Kouga ran a quivering hand through his now loose hair, the crystal blue of his eyes filled with a deep sorrow and a heavy worry. Turning from the pit, the Lupine pack leader met the gaze of his sister's handmaid.

"I haven't heard anything since they fell. It's been _four hours_ , Kaede." Kouga spoke, his voice rough in his throat. Kaede frowned, her expression mirroring the sadness in her prince's features before approaching the forlorn brother and placing a hand on his head. Pulling her fingers through his mane, Kaede comforted Kouga by grooming his hair; a thing that a mother often did for her crying children in the Lupine tribes to console them. Having raised both Rin and the Lupine prince after their father had died, Kaede considered herself no less than a mother. Sighing softly, she tried to exude her calm emotions to the man beside her, hoping it would help him retreat from his worry if only a little.

"It'll be okay, child," she spoke softly, "Rin is a smart girl. She would have found a way to be alright."

"I'm not just worried about that, Kaede," Kouga murmured, his gaze flicking over to the old woman, "that Vampir General is down there with her as well."

Kaede's eyes widened.

"Sesshomaru is with her?" she asked in disbelief. Kouga's eyes darkened; an affirmative. "He did not retreat with the rest of the Vampir to Coven Haven?"

"Rin was trying to heal him when the ledge broke. They both fell." Kouga informed. A growl began rumbling in the back of his throat. "I _swear_ , Kaede, if he so much as touches a hair on her head I will show him the greatest pain a Vampir has ever known."

Kaede chuckled.

"Don't be foolish child," Kaede spoke light=heartedly, "both you and I know that Sesshomaru would defeat you before that."

Kouga rolled his eyes letting out an angry sigh. The wrinkles around Kaede's eyes deepened as she smiled.

"Besides, I would not be surprised if Sesshomaru was with Rin now trying to devise a way back up here."

"Sesshomaru hates Lupines, he wouldn't help Rin. He was injured and unconscious the last I saw him. He took one of my kicks straight to his mid-section. I doubt he could be of much help to Rin even if –by chance- he decided to."

Kaede paled.

"He was injured?" she whispered in shock. Kouga nodded. Kaede seemed to mull something over before she sighed.

"I see."

The two stood in silence as they looked into the drop with mild trepidation fluttering in their hearts. Kaede was the first to break the silence.

"I have been meaning to ask you, child, why was it that they came to Wolf Valley? _Why_ , when we are so close to the Summer Solstice, did they attack the home of our people without the intention of killing?"

"Rin." Kouga said darkly. "Somebody has told Naraku of Rin. There is a traitor in our mists, Kaede."

"Though we worked so hard to keep the life of that girl a secret, that demon Naraku still learned of her? The Gods do not favor us, child."

Kouga bit his lip.

"No," he whispered, "no they don't."

"What did you tell Rin before she fell?"

"That the people were captured to be held as hostages."

"You still keep the truth from her, Kouga?" Kaede said, turning to the distressed prince.

"I must. I cannot let her know the importance of her own blood, Kaede. I wanted her to stay out of Naraku's gaze completely; to keep his mind on me alone, as the only possible carrier to the royal Lupine legacy. The fact that someone has told him of my sister has made this war much harder."

"Indeed," Kaede agreed, "I cannot disagree with you. No good comes from interactions between Lupine and Vampir. That has been seen throughout history."

"Yes," Kouga said as he turned away from the ledge to go and join his men who were preparing to descend into the pit. "I couldn't agree with you more." He threw over his shoulder.

Kaede sighed as Kouga left hearing range. Her mind solely on the words that Kouga had spoken about a traitor being in the Lupine's mist. Sadness seized Kaede's heart as her thoughts then drifted to an ebony-haired woman with a cool gaze and ringlets in her hair. Her eyes became damp when her thoughts moved to the words she would have to say to Byakuya who was no doubt waiting, hidden, outside the cavern for her report.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered.

~ . . . ~

(Four hours before)

"Help."

Rin's voice was lost as the air around her began to roar in her ears as she fell. Her hair whipped out from under her and clouded her night-vision even further as she watched her brother shrink to the size of a spec. Panic striking her heart, Rin's mind began to reel. The words _I'm going to die_ echoing loudly in her mind. Soon the only thoughts left in her mind were just that. Tears began floating away from her eyes as she cried. She was going to die and there was nothing to do about it. Breath growing labored, Rin struggled to take in any oxygen as her vision blurred. Black was all she could see now, even with her Lupine eyes the color was all she could make out. All black, all around, soon to be red. The never-ending black would be all she saw before her death. Not flowers, not the sky, not even the sight of her valley would grace her eyes or thoughts as she fell. Just black. Almost as if Rin were drowning in ink. Hope left her heart, seeming to slip out her chest and fall in front of her as her tears had done. There was no hope left. Nothing.

Nothing, save, the bright silver ribbon that floated into Rin's vision. Her eyes widened as Rin watched the ribbon twist and turn in the air in front of her. It glittered in Rin's vision, shined and glowed as the moon did during the night. Hand reaching forward, Rin moved towards the ribbon, the porcelain of her fingers weaving through the metallic silk and breaking the ribbon into several smaller ones. Rin's eyes followed the ribbons, the sheen of the strings guiding her down to a pool of silver. In the middle of this pool was white. A face, Rin recognized in her panic soon turning calm. A face she knew. The lines of purple streaked across the cheeks of this face and the purple crescent moon on the forehead of it drew Rin's attention. The long black lashes that flushed across pale skin and dark grey eyebrows that rimmed them hid the gold pools Rin knew were held within the eyes of the unconscious visage. She knew this face, as well as the white-clad body beneath it.

"Sesshomaru," Rin breathed, and in that moment she forgot all of her fear. A fire ignited in her heart. She had to save him, at least, if she was going to die. She would save him so that the last moments of her life weren't in vain and that his life would continue on so he could see the things that she couldn't. Eyes steeling in determination, Rin swam through the air towards the unconscious man. Suddenly, the brown of her eyes glowed gold and the fangs in her mouth grew long. The lines of her body blurred as she fazed. Small, porcelain hands became large, brown paws, nose and mouth extended into an elegant brown snout, and long, brown hair shortened into a thick mane.

Rin had become a wolf.

Her size now twice that of Sesshomaru's, Rin towered over the unconscious Vampir as she moved towards the man and gripped the back of his white shirt in her jaws. Swimming through the air to the side walls of the pit, Rin prepared herself for the pain about to come. Putting her front paws before her, she placed them on the wall rushing past them. A loud whine of pain rushed out of Rin's throat as the tender skin of her paws began to corrode with the friction of the wall. The two slowed. Rin steeled her mind to block out the pain as she extended her bottom paws to the wall as well, determined to make her fall come to a stop. However, Rin could not hear the ground rushing up to meet her as she fell down the wall. Her back legs hit the ground first with a large _CRACK_ and Rin's grip on Sesshomaru loosened as she let out a howl of pain. The Vampir General went sprawling across the floor of the pit and Rin fell too. Whines of pain flowed out of her as she fazed back into her human form. Whines turned to soft cries as she laid on the ground, pain aching through her legs as well as her palms and the bottoms of her feet. Sleep came to Rin fast as the pain overtook her body and her systems shut down.

(Four hours later)

Rin woke to the immense pain of her burnt hands and feet coupled with her broken legs. Tears sprang to her eyes as she let out a soft scream. Her thoughts became a jumble as her vision blurred from the pain. Minutes passed as Rin rocked side to side, her hands stinging in the cool damp air of the pit bottom. She didn't know how long she had been there, but as Rin's thoughts began to come back to her and the pain became a dull ache, her mind instantly went to Sesshomaru. Rin rolled over and sat up on her elbows so that she could find the beaten man. Worry laced her mind as she considered his earlier wounds. He may not have survived the fall. However, as soon as Rin looked around she gasped.

There was light.

A faint blue glow came from all around her, and it seemed to come from the floor and walls of the pit bottom itself. All around water dripped onto the fluorescent ground and moss lied in clumps hear and there about the ground. Behind her, Rin could hear water running, an indicator of an underground river. Though she couldn't maneuver her body to see it, Rin was relieved to know that there was a water source.

It took Rin mere seconds to locate Sesshomaru. His hair was fanned out against the blue rock and it shown an unearthly silver color in the light. It highlighted the pale of his skin and made him and his clothes seem to glow. Something probed at Rin's heart when she saw him. He was divine. A faint blush exploded across Rin's cheeks as she stared at him. It was then that she noticed his chest moving up and down. He was alive. A smile graced Rin's features before she turned to inspect the moss that lied near her. A sigh of great relief flew out of her when she recognized the moss and its important healing and numbing quality. Gripping some tenderly with her burnt and raw hands, she used her opposite hand to apply it. The moss was damp and cool on her hand, and as soon as it touched the raw flesh of her injury she nearly cried out in relief. It felt wonderful. She repeated the same action with her opposite hand and feet before she tore off cloth from the bottom of her plain white dress with her teeth to wrap them.

When both of her feet and hands were bandaged tightly, Rin managed the strength to crawl over to Sesshomaru. At first glance nothing seemed particularly wrong with him, but as Rin got closer she noticed how faint his heart sounded and the foreboding trail of blood that trickled down his chin. Her heart froze when she realized that she had none of the medical supplies she needed to heal him.

"General Sesshomaru," she said tenderly as she pulled herself up next to him. She pulled up the hem of his shirt and flinched when she saw the raw, sickly colored bruise across his stomach. Tears fled to her eyelids as a sudden feeling of helplessness raged through her. She had nothing to heal him with. No herbs –save the pain-killing moss around her-, no bandages, no medicinal drinks, no blood-

Rin froze.

She had _her_ blood. And if what she had heard about royal Lupine blood was true then wouldn't it mean that Sesshomaru's body would be able to heal itself if he drank from her? Rin's mind ran through all other possibilities, but the only one that had any chance of saving him was this one. She bit her lip. She had heard from Tensoumaru that drinking from someone –as well as sharing- was a very intimate act. Wouldn't it be invasive if Rin had Sesshomaru drink from her? He had a very evident hatred towards Lupines. Wouldn't he hate her? Rin shook her head. If she wanted to save him this was the only option. With or without his consent, Rin was going to at least try it.

Leaning down to her wrist, Rin made a slit in her skin using her canines. At first, the area under her bandages stayed the same. But, after a moment, blood began dotting her skin and soon dripped out onto the ground in a steady stream. Beside her, Sesshomaru's body jerked as his eyes flashed open. They were deep red and his pupils blue. Rin could tell he wasn't awake, that it was only his instincts telling his body to awaken, but she still felt relieved to see his bright orbs open again.

Taking a deep breath, Rin tried to prepare herself as she dipped her wrist to Sesshomaru's mouth. At first, he stayed still as drops of her blood stained his lips, but, in a sudden and swift movement, Sesshomaru's hand shot forward and gripped Rin's hand. Rin suppressed a cry as his nails dug into her injured hand and his fangs entered into her wrist with an intimate _SQUELCH_. A blush burned deeply across Rin's cheeks as she heard Sesshomaru suck softly on her wrist, his eyes wild and half-lidded in pleasure. A fire seemed to be ignited inside Rin in that moment and it stemmed from Sesshomaru's fangs embedded deeply inside her. It burned through her arm into her chest, her other arm, her legs, and then it seemed to settle in Rin's center. Her body quickly became hot as a moan escaped Rin and she began to feel herself sweat. The pain that used to run over Rin's nerves in a dull ache was instantly turned into a fiery pleasure as she fidgeted next to Sesshomaru.

Moans and small pants escaped Rin as Sesshomaru drank, not aware that the odd reaction came from the venom the Vampir had injected into her the moment he had bit down. The chemicals roused Rin's hormones and made her heart beat faster, causing her blood to flow into Sesshomaru faster.

"G-General," Rin stuttered. She licked her lips, her mind becoming jumbled as her instincts took over. She wanted this man, her instincts coaxed. She wanted to bed him. _To_ _mark him as hers and have him forever_. Her instincts, Rin realized embarrassingly, wanted her to _mate_ with Sesshomaru. Her mind fought against the feelings, but as Sesshomaru continued to drink lazily from her wrist, she found herself slowly begin to fall to them.

"No," she whispered in her conscious' last attempt to right her. Her lids drooped and her body became tired from loosing its blood. "Stop."

Sesshomaru simply growled into her wrist as he continued. Rin's lips trembled as she began leaning down to Sesshomaru's neck, her canines released as she slowly fell to the desire to mark him.

Her lips met his cool skin, making Sesshomaru growl in slight warning. Rin ignored him, her eyes beginning to glow gold as she opened her mouth and began to close in on his neck. Instincts reacting to Rin's, Sesshomaru released his teeth from Rin's wrist and moved her hair from her neck. He leaned in, his own teeth glistening in the light of the cave as they moved against her skin. Rin whimpered, her ears folding in submission.

The two's teeth into began pressing into the other's neck, hormones flooding the cave around them as they got closer to marking one another.

Suddenly, his mind coming back to him as he woke, Sesshomaru stopped. The crimson of his eyes retreated into his pupil as it slowly turned black and his eyes their usual gold. Sesshomaru could find no way to react as Rin made to mark him, his eyes wide. Unexpectedly, however, and just as sudden as Sesshomaru's awakening, Rin collapsed into his lap, her body finally giving out after being drunk from. She had not marked him, but Sesshomaru could clearly tell that was her intention from her scent and her movements. He could also tell that if he hadn't woken when he had that he would have marked her as well. Claws digging into his palms, blood leaked from Sesshomaru's hands as he internally feuded with his desire. He growled slightly as he slowly reigned his instincts as well as the odd feeling burning within his chest back in. He snapped angrily, denial to ever feeling attraction to a Lupine loud in his voice.

" **Never."**

 _Sorry for the AN at the beginning. I hope it didn't offend anyone ^ ^. I was just joking. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, it was kinda mature. Sorta. Not Really. Anyways, thanks for reading! :D_


	10. Chapter 10

_Author's Note: O_O IT'S . . . DONE . . . Ya'll don't even know how much I struggled on writing this chapter. I just . . . I couldn't motivate myself to write this one scene, and the chapter was longer, and I suck at trying to write when I don't want to and- T^T It was SO HARD. I'M SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. I hope it being nearly twice the length as my previous chapters appeases you guys. Once again, I'm so sorry it took this long to update, I just REALLY struggled with this chapter. Anyways, on that note I do believe I should say (though you probably can already tell) I am not good at updating on schedule. In fact, I tried once to stick to a schedule when it came to updated on this story and it went south fast. So . . . I'll just let you know now, I'll update when I'm done writing and the intervals between the updates aren't going to be consistent. OK. So. **THIS IS WHERE THE AUTHOR'S NOTE GETS IMPORTANT AND RELEVANT TO THE STORY SO READ HERE.** If you noticed, below I have changed the whole POV language thing. That's because it is FUCKING ANNOYING to try and keep up the whole bolding one language and not for the other. So. I have changed the story a bit for now and in the future. The Lupine and Vampir in this story will both speak a general language when speaking to one another. However, they both still have their own languages and will still use them occasionally. Yeah. So, I'm sorry about the change but it was a pain to try and keep the language thing up. Anyways, ENJOY THE STORY. Sorry for taking so long. =_='_

"SHARED."

 **"LUPINE."**

 _ **"VAMPIR."**_

 _"SHARED MENTAL."_

 ** _"VAMPIR MENTAL."_**

9

The ears atop Rin's head twitched twice as her chocolate doe eyes peaked open from under her bangs. She blinked, mind groggy with the fog of sleep and blood loss. Rin did not recall exactly how she had fallen asleep but something in her mind told her that the reasons were far too embarrassing to recall. Frowning slightly in confusion, Rin lifted herself off the floor, the fluorescent mineral around her illuminating her in a light blue glow.

She yawned as her mind slowly worked on remembering the actions that took place before she fell unconscious. The image of silver ribbons and golden orbs flowed through her thoughts and Rin's heart clenched.

"Sesshomaru," she whispered, not yet understanding the depth in the name that had appeared in her thoughts.

"Sesshomaru." She tried again. "Sesshomaru-" Rin gasped.

The memories of her being taken from her village, riding with the general, Sesshomaru drinking from her and her trying to mate with him crashed through Rin's mind like a tornado.

"O-Oh my." Rin stuttered, her face a bright red. Her memories of the past few days now restored, Rin looked around the cave bottom, suddenly very aware of the presence of the Vampir General. Or the lack thereof. Rin's face fell. Where was Sesshomaru?

"General?" she called around the cave. No response. Rin swallowed the knot in her throat before she glanced upwards curiously. The blue light from stone seemed to reach up the sides of the walls, desperately fighting against the darkness of the long shaft leading upwards. Rin paled slightly, the knowledge that her brother was somewhere far above her was both terrifying and awe-inspiring at the same time. The face of her brother flashed quickly through her mind. His large, lopsided grin, his sparkling blue eyes, and his long black hair. The sudden need to cry stirred in Rin's heart. Biting her lip Rin held back her feelings. She needed to focus; she needed to find Sesshomaru.

Taking a deep breath, Rin pivoted her body to inspect the area around her more thoroughly. It was only then that she noticed a hole in the cavern wall. It was rather large, actually, and as Rin inspected it further she began to question how she had missed it in the first place. The hole was the entrance to a tunnel way that seemed to go on forever.

"Did he go in there?" Rin questioned to herself. Though, while she said that, Rin was really wondering if the General had abandoned her. Rin suddenly became very conscious of her venerable state. Her hands and feet were burned raw, her legs broken, and she was in serious need of blood. Without the Vampir General, Rin realized, she would die.

"This is no good." Rin swore to herself. She had no idea what to do, and even if she did Rin wouldn't be able to go through with her plan; she couldn't move. The Lupine princess really wanted to cry now. Lying back on the ground, Rin closed her eyes, her only option now to wait for the General to return. That was, if he ever _did_ return.

Mind reeling with worry and questions, Rin didn't notice the large black shadow that began emerging from the opening in the wall.

"Did he really leave me?" Rin questioned, her bad habit of speaking to herself now emerging as she fretted.

"I do suppose he hates my kind. I would not be surprised if he decided I was not worth the time or effort." Rin continued, not noticing the massive creature that began drawing closer to her. "I also tried to _m-mate_ with him. Anybody would want to leave after that kind of experience." Rin's ears twitched at the sound of the creature's movements, passing it off as water dripping onto the cave floor. The creature was now within arms reach.

"I guess he really does hate me." Rin whispered, her eyes finally opening. Rin froze when they met with feral crimson ones. The breath left her as the large dragon-like creature glared down at her hungrily. A moment passed between the two before –in a swift, invisible movement- the creature swung at Rin. It's massive paw, as big as her abdomen, connected with her side and Rin went flying across the cave into the wall. ( _AN: She's having a pretty rough time, huh? ^ ^')_

A cry of surprise and pain erupted form Rin as she collided with the stone. Blood exploded from her mouth at the same time and Rin had to struggle to keep herself from choking. The dragon watched with a wild look in its eyes as Rin attempted to sit herself back up and crawl away with her broken legs. A gleam of excitement seemed to shine through its ruby irises. Rin gasped as the dragon leapt at her, its large paw coming down on her legs, quelling her attempts at escape. Tears exploded from Rin's eyes as she threw back her head and screamed.

The blood-curdling cry echoed through the cavern and the dragon growled in a predatory response. Hiccups and sobs poured out of Rin as the dragon leaned down towards her face, its jaw open and its large canines shining in the light of the blue stone.

"Dragon's Strike."

Suddenly, a blinding blue light burst into the cave and Rin covered her eyes with her arms in response. The dragon above her screeched as the sudden oncoming energy wave engulfed it, tearing it away from the person of the Lupine Princess and slamming it into the opposite wall. The deafening _SMACK_ caused Rin to wince as she slowly sat up, pulling her arms away from her eyes. She watched as the dragon's body slowly stopped moving and the cave was again returned to silence.

A light sound of boots striding against the ground caused Rin to look towards the opening in the cave, her eyes wide. When, trough the shadows, the gleam of silver ribbons met her eyes, Rin released a breath she didn't know she held. Sesshomaru entered the cave with his eyes focused on the dragon and his natural glower put in place.

"General." Rin breathed out in relief. Sesshomaru turned to her before striding over, his sword Tokijin gripped tightly in one hand and long, brown objects in the other. Rin recognized them as sticks.

"Princess," Sesshomaru addressed, though no form of respect was held in his tone. Rin smiled lightly. The Vampir General kneeled down next to Rin, his sudden closeness causing her to blush. "Hold on to This Sesshomaru's shoulders." He commanded. Rin nearly choked in shock but seeing his serious expression complied. As she leaned close to his chest she couldn't help but think how pleasant his natural smell was.

"This will hurt." Sesshomaru spoke quietly to her as he positioned the sticks alongside Rin's legs. In that moment, she knew what he was doing but she didn't have enough time to prepare herself before Sesshomaru pressed the sticks in close and began wrapping them. The pain of the bone being set jolted through Rin's body.

She let out a small cry of pain and gripped Sesshomaru's shoulders tightly, biting her lip to hold back more cries till blood entered her mouth. Tears began falling down her face. When Sesshomaru was done with the first leg, he gave Rin no obvious indication he was until he had started on the next one. The same reaction came from Rin and lasted even after he was finished as he allowed her to rest on him.

"You and This Sesshomaru cannot stay here long. To leave this place This Sesshomaru will require your assistance. The same applies to you in this situation."

Rin nodded slightly into Sesshomaru's chest, timidly wiping the tears away form her cheeks, her ears wilted and her tail void of motion.

"I understand. However, I ask that you let me sit for a few moments longer. I- my body- is not ready to go yet."

Sesshomaru said nothing which Rin interpreted as an 'okay' before she allowed herself to settle her head on Sesshomaru's chest. They stayed like that for a few more moments while the air around them became awkward. Rin remembered very clearly what had happen just before she had passed out; she knew Sesshomaru did also. She could feel his heated gaze on her. So, while Rin was not ready, physically, to be moved, she pulled away from Sesshomaru's chest and nodded at him none the less.

"I am ready."

Sesshomaru frowned at her slightly before turning around and offering Rin his back.

"Get on."

Rin blushed at the command and was about to question Sesshomaru before she considered the alternate options of being carried either like a sack or like a bride. Biting her lip nervously, Rin wrapped her arms around Sesshomaru's neck and pulled herself close. His slender arms found their way to Rin's thighs as he cupped them, careful no to get too close to her injured calves. While Rin was charmed by his consideration, she was also extremely embarrassed by how close his hands were to her rear. Her feet and hands ached through the bandages.

~ . . .~

The Lupine princess stayed mute while Sesshomaru carried her through the tunnel. Her chest was pressed tightly to his back and while she rested on him Sesshomaru listened intently to her breathing. Unbeknownst to Rin, the general was quietly wondering on how she was fairing. He had been unable to return in time to keep the dragon from attacking her and that made him painfully aware that her previously injured body was even more so now. Rin, however, tried her very best to ignore the dull ache that throbbed from where the dragon's attack connected. Her eyes were, instead, focused on the luminescent rock that encased her and Sesshomaru as they walked through the tunnel.

"It's almost as if we're in a fairy's palace." Rin whispered in awe. Sesshomaru glanced back at her, his pace not faltering as he watched her eyes glitter. Rin's tail was wagging slightly in excitement.

"It is a maze." He spoke. Rin looked at his face as he did, a small gasp leaving her when their eyes met. Instantly, Sesshomaru tore away and Rin flushed red.

"A-a maze?" Rin asked, trying –and failing- to keep the picture of Sesshomaru pressed against her wrist out of her mind. The General tried to ignore the princess' shy blush when he glanced back to her.

"Yes, a naturally formed one. However, this Sesshomaru believes that another exit exists besides the one we fell into. The sticks that this Sesshomaru found for your legs were from a dragon's nest. The creatures must have retrieved them from somewhere."

"Are we to wander until we find that exit?" Rin asked, eyes wide. Sesshomaru hummed.

"Assuming that this endeavor will take more than a day, what will we do for food?" Rin wondered out loud. As soon as the words left her mouth, however, she regretted it. Sesshomaru snapped his attention forward, his eyes training ahead of them so as not to look at Rin. The princess blushed in embarrassment as the memory of Sesshomaru feeding from her became the only thought that processed in her head.

"I probably should not have asked that, huh?" Rin mused. Sesshomaru stayed quiet.

Biting her bottom lip nervously, Rin leaned forward lay her head on Sesshomaru's shoulder. The man tensed slightly at the action, but –remembering Rin's injuries and probable fatigue- he said nothing as he allowed her to rest on him. The two of them fell into silence as they began exploring the twists and turns of the maze, the only sound being that of Sesshomaru's boots on the stone.

"Why . . ." Rin glanced up at Sesshomaru as he broke their silence, "do you remain impassive to my actions?"

Rin's eye widened.

"What?" she whispered.

"How can you not hate me?"

Brown eyes slowly began to soften as they looked to the stern porcelain face of the Vampir. Rin smiled slightly.

"Sesshomaru," The man tensed as the princess referred to him without his title, "we Lupine are very in tune with the emotions of others, did you know that?"

The man remained silent, but the air around him told Rin that he was aware.

"It definitely," Rin paused, "makes our people quite the cry-babies when it comes down to it. However, I think of being able to sense other's emotions as a gift."

"I believe," she said softly, "that words cannot fully express what a person's heart really is trying to say. More than anything else, Sesshomaru, I don't want anyone to die. Everyone has something that they want to say but can't; something they want to give to the world. When you can feel people's hearts, feel their pain, their sadness, their joy, there is no way you can wish death upon them. This is both for my people and yours. I just want . . ." The golden orbs of the General widened when he felt the liquid soak through the cloth covering his shoulder. "This war," Rin sobbed, "I want it to end."

The air around them grew quiet –save Rin's sobs- as Sesshomaru slowed his pace to a stop. He stood there, his mind plagued with the thoughts of his father, his hatred towards the Lupine, the _Great Betrayal_.

"I have . . ." Sesshomaru started hesitantly. In his eyes, a slight cautiousness flickered. A cautiousness put in place as if he was about to speak his true heart for the first time in his life. "I . . . have killed many of your people, Rin."

The girl gasped slightly through her tears at his use of her name. "I have slain many on the battlefield. I have tried to kill your brother and yet you still wish me not to die?"

Rin shook her head; no.

"Why? I have hated your kind all of my life, I . . . have only wished death upon you."

"Then why?" Rin hiccupped, "Why did you not kill my people when you took our valley? Why did you give those children blankets when they were cold? If you hate our kind so much, Sesshomaru, why did you resist drinking my blood so long?"

Sesshomaru tensed.

"You . . . are not a bad person, Sesshomaru," Rin smiled through her tears, "I can feel it: your kindness that you keep locked up inside of your heart. It's just, somewhere along the way, you lost your ability to show it. Something broke in you."

The image of his father, face a deathly pallor, being carried away in a coffin flashed into the General's mind. Sesshomaru's eyes darkened slightly before he began walking again.

"I cannot forget what you have done." Rin spoke, her voice low and her sobbing ceased. "The pain you have caused to those I cherish is not one to be forgotten. However, I know that we, too, have killed many of your people, and that is why I hold nothing against you. In war, even kind men such as yourself become the object of hatred. I can forgive you, General, however, I can never forget."

Sesshomaru closed his eyes as a smile graced his lips.

"That is how it should be."

After that, they fell quiet. Neither one speaking for several hours.

~ . . . ~

"Princess," Sesshomaru's eye caught the twitch of the woman's ear in the corner of his vision and he frowned. She was asleep. Letting out a slightly elongated breath, Sesshomaru sighed. The General had no idea why he had felt the need to tell the woman on his back any of his true thoughts when they talked hours before. He wasn't entirely sure why he had cared what the woman thought of him in the first place. All Sesshomaru knew at that point was that he found the Lupine Princess to be exceedingly intriguing. He had no idea why. Maybe it was because he wasn't even aware of her existence till he found her in the Wolf Valley a few days before. Had Naraku known of her? Sesshomaru mused. He shook off the thought. It didn't matter. Either way, he would take her to him. It was his duty, and no matter how much he was afflicted by the woman's personality, he would complete it.

"Princess," Sesshomaru prodded again, speaking louder as to wake her. The woman made a small stirring noise before she nuzzled herself deeper into Sesshomaru's shoulder. The place where her cheek met his shoulder was warm. The General tried to ignore that.

"Rin."

Her eyes snapped open, slightly startling Sesshomaru –though he didn't show it.

"I-I'm sorry. I fell asleep." The Lupine Princess slurred groggily. Sesshomaru found her slightly disheveled appearance along with the tiny trail of drool from her mouth both disgusting and humorous at the same time. Either way, he would have to get rid of his shirt.

"This Sesshomaru intends to free his hands. He will set you down, are you prepared?" Sesshomaru asked. His voice was more that of a command that an inquiry.

"Huh?" Rin mumbled, still drowsy, "Ah. Y-Yes, please do whatever you need to, General."

Sesshomaru hummed before setting Rin down on a near rock, making sure to avoid touching her calves to anything. It was only then that the princess seemed to notice that instead of being in the usual, compact path of the maze, they were in a large, spacious air pocket. Behind her was the way they came from, and on the opposite side of the cave two paths laid before them. Two options. However, Rin could only tell this because of her Lupine vision. It was when she noticed this that she too noticed the lack of the glowing rock.

"Where are we?" Rin asked. Sesshomaru cast the Princess a look and Rin instantly understood that he didn't know either. Turning away, Sesshomaru strolled over to a nearby collection of sticks. Rin frowned. Where they in a dragon's nest?

"An abandoned one." Sesshomaru supplied. He hadn't had to read her mind to understand what she was wondering. Although, it was quite entertaining for him to watch her think that he had. Rin was flushed a deep crimson.

"What are you doing, General?" Rin asked, her eyes wide in wonder. Sesshomaru didn't respond –as per usual- before he pulled the tucked hem of his white dress shirt out from his pants. Rin went speechless as Sesshomaru pulled the hem over his head, stripping the shirt from his body in a swift movement. Cheeks flushed a furious red, Rin couldn't stop her eyes from glancing at the General's perfectly chiseled abdomen, nor the two sets of magenta stripes that rode on either side of his hips. They matched the ones on his cheeks and wrists.

Sesshomaru ignored the slight ogling the princess gave him as he began wrapping the shirt around a stick he had picked up. From what he understood, the girl must have only had interactions with her family and that maid that could speak Vampir. She had probably never seen a man undress. So, he decided to ignore the staring, despite his slight unease, and continue to craft his torch.

Shirt wrapped firmly around the edge of the stick, Sesshomaru then turned to a puddle of water in the corner of the cave. He approached it, effectively increasing the princess' curiosity of his doings. He dipped the clothed end of the stick into the liquid before wringing it slightly and bringing it to his lips. He blew delicately on the liquid-heavy cloth and it instantly burst into flames, effectively completing his torch. Rin gasped.

"Oh my," she whispered in awe. Sesshomaru walked back over to the stunned princess. "I wasn't aware that you possessed magic fire-breathing abilities as well, General!" she exasperated, "I was only told rumors of you having that enchanted sword, Tokijin!" Sesshomaru's eyes sparkled in amusement, though his face stayed neutral.

"This cave is filled with _Houou_." Sesshomaru explained, bending down to offer Rin his back again. "It is a special flammable liquid that we Vampir use to make our torches. It won't ignite when it is in puddles or when it is in its solidified form. Only when it's strung along cloth will it light; one only has to use their breath to heat it. It glows when in its rock-like state."

"So that's why these caves glow? It's filled with _Houou_?" Rin mused, wrapping her arms around Sesshomaru's neck as he hoisted her up. Sesshomaru hummed.

The man then turned towards the two paths that lay before them and began walking towards the one on the right. He didn't think much of the princess behind him stiffening until she whispered sharply.

"Sesshomaru,"

The Vampir glanced back at his passenger, slightly thrown-off to see her staring upwards at the ceiling. His golden gaze following hers, Sesshomaru stiffened when he, too, saw the object of Rin's attention.

"It's . . ." Rin began, eyes glittering, "beautiful."

The woman's skin was a beautiful unearthly pale, her long tussled hair a silken gun-metal grey; this matched her ears and tail. Her cheeks were flushed and her lips slightly parted as she slept. Her hair cascaded over her body like a waterfall over stone. Upon the ceiling, it looked as if she belonged there. Like she was made to sleep upon the rock forever, blessing all that happened upon her and managed to take her in.

Sesshomaru said nothing in response as his eyes ran over the painting of the naked Lupine maiden on the ceiling, her body illuminated by the glow of the torch.

"Someone . . . really loved her." Rin whispered, her senses picking up on every emotion coming from the portrait.

Sesshomaru wasn't as in-tune with emotions as Rin –or for any Lupine for that matter- but even could tell that whoever had painted this had taken care to make this woman as beautiful as possible. Even for a Lupine, the Vampir General could not deny that she was celestial.

"This is not . . . for our eyes." Sesshomaru said, tearing his gaze away from the painting and beginning to walk again. Rin's eyes moved from the picture to the man she clung to, her eyes wide in amazement. She was surprised that Sesshomaru had been able to sense that from the portrait. As beautiful as it was, the entire time Rin observed it she couldn't help but think that this painting wasn't meant for her to see -or _anyone_ to see, for that matter. It gave off an air of possession. Almost as if the one who painted it was telling all that the maiden was his and his alone.

"Yes," Rin agreed quietly, having to resist looking back up at the enshrinement. When she faced forward, though, her face morphed into that of surprise.

"General!" Rin exclaimed. Sesshomaru stopped walking, barely inside the entrance to the right path, to look back at Rin.

"What is it?" he asked, his voice calm and smooth. Rin's face lit up as she looked at him.

"The left one!" she said happily. Sesshomaru's brows drew in at Rin's generalness. "Go back." She spoke, eyes sparkling in the light of the torch.

"I could smell it from the left path."

"Smell what?" Sesshomaru questioned, starting to grow impatient.

"The air!" Rin cried, "The _outside_ air!"


	11. Chapter 11

_AN: I'm sorry for how late this one is~! TT^TT I've been struggling with writing this one, mostly due to motivation. This is something I have a problem with in all my stories. So, in an effort to overcome this, I've posted this chapter (though it isn't much done) to try and rekindle my want to write this. I apologize it has taken so long, again, and I promise I will update within the week!_

"POV language."

 **"POV different language."**

" _POV mental speech."_

 ** _"POV different language mental speech."_**

10

The castle of CovenHaven's thick-set silhouette stood erect against the receding light of day. The sun had set minutes before and its pale halo was the only thing left visible from behind the forested horizon. A peach hue painted the fortress and the gardens around it while birds and other forest animals quieted. The trees rustled in the lukewarm breeze that slowly caressed the earth as the light died. Not yet night, yet no longer day. It was dusk; the hour that Naraku took delight in the most. He told no one of his ventures to the balcony of his chamber during this time. Most within the castle would find his fascination of daylight unbecoming of a king. Yet, the thought of ridicule and questioning did not keep Naraku from waking hours before his court to watch the sun's light fade behind the horizon. It was reminiscent to him. He did know – nor remember- why.

"Your Majesty,"

Crimson eyes turned away from the scene to meet the voice. Standing in the door to his balcony, Byakuya presented himself, giving a deep bow in greeting. The human kept his eyes from lingering on the nude form of his lord.

"Byakuya," Naraku acknowledged. "Has Inuyasha come?"

The assistant wasn't surprised that Naraku had guessed what he had to report.

"Yes, Your Majesty. He travelled during the day with his lieutenant and has arrived ahead of our predicted time."

Naraku chuckled.

"Yes, he is quite fond of throwing the Clan Leaders off in such ways. I assume he is with his mother presently?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. Shall I summon him?"

"No," Naraku sighed as he pushed away from the stone railing, "I will go to them. I haven't seen the Lady in quite some time now."

Byakuya had to bite his lip to hide his irritation towards the woman.

' _Retched Izayoi,'_ his mind whirred, _'the Lupine bitch is in no way deserving of His Majesty's attention.'_ Brows creased, Byakuya bowed his head and did his best to extinguish his anger. His Majesty could no doubt sense it about him.

"Very well, Your Majesty." He struggled, moving to the side as his master passed. "Shall I inform them beforehand?"

"There is no need, Byakuya. Where would the fun in that be?" the king responded, amused slightly by the anger Byakuya showed towards the previous queen.

"I supposed there would be none, Your Majesty."

Naraku's deep chuckle echoed around the spacious chamber as he approached his wardrobe.

"You suppose correctly."

Byakuya said nothing as he moved to wait for his lord by the door opposite the balcony. His eyes wandered around the chamber as he tried to think of anything but the Lady Izayoi, scrutinizing silently over the detailed paintings that were spread about the walls. He did his best not to pay too much mind to the _morbidity_ of the content within the pictures, deciding it was best not to consider the depictions of subjugated humans ones held personal to his lord. It was the order of things, Byakuya mused, closing his eyes to the disturbing visual.

"Byakuya," Naraku called as he slipped a coat over the tan dress shirt he now adorned. "You seem to be having troubling thoughts over there. Will you share them with me?"

Byakuya snapped out of his thoughts as he focused in on the Vampir that began approaching him.

"I-It's nothing, sire." He responded quickly. A drop of sweat ran down his brow. Naraku smiled at Byakuya and the man begun to feel his blood chill.

' _His eyes,'_ he thought shakily, ' _he's . . . angry with me?'_

His gaze searched Naraku's face, fear beginning to pulse through his veins as he tried to decipher the sudden dark light that had raced through his lord's eyes. Naraku said nothing as he met the stare with his own. An amused smile played across the Vampir's lips before he simply chuckled and began strolling past to the door.

"Are you coming, Byakuya?" Naraku asked, his voice dropping low. Byakuya swallowed slightly before shaking off his fear.

' _Ridiculous,'_ he thought, his brows furrowing, _'what would my lord have to be angry at me for? I have done nothing.'_

"Yes, sire," he answered, brushing aside the confusion that raced through him to follow after his slowly retreating master. As he began to close the chamber door after himself, though, Byakuya could not ignore the slight abnormality on his lord's desk that had not been there beforehand.

' _A . . . letter?'_ Byakuya's thoughts raced. He had not given his lord that letter. Who had? Eyes narrowing, Byakuya did not question the object as he closed the door and hurried to fall in step behind his lord. However, he had no doubt in his mind that the reason for his lord's sudden moment of anger had sprung from that letter.

~ . . . ~

Inuyasha's nose buried itself in the black tresses of the woman's hair as he took in her scent. His golden orbs fell closed as he became engulfed in the tame aroma of a freshly bloomed cherry-blossom trees fused with the warm scent of linens.

"I missed you," he whispered as he held his mother. The woman giggled softly, the light wrinkles about her mouth and eyes creasing.

"And I you, my little white-haired pup." She replied as her arms wrapped around her son's neck. Inuyasha pulled away with a smile, placing his hands on his mother's waist to gently guide her over to her bed.

Moonlight trickled into the tower's loft causing the air about the room to glow white. The light sheets that covered the tall windows to the right of the bed moved inwards in the slight breeze that passed through. Inuyasha sat his mom down on the empress-sized bed adorned in pink silken sheets with blossom prints. He lay down beside her.

"So," his mother began heartedly, "tell me of your ventures on the battle front."

Inuyasha sighed as his eyes drifted shut. He was tired of the war, as were all of his soldiers, and he wasn't one to eagerly speak of it. However, his mom was an exception.

"Things are currently at a standstill." Inuyasha drawled gruffly, "Kouga's returned to Wolf Valley for recovery time and his second-in-command, Ayame is currently in charge. They aren't keen on picking any fights because their head general is gone and, because Sesshomaru is currently away, we're unfortunately in the same situation."

Izayoi nodded mutely before a quizzical look crossed her face. She turned to her son and her ears wilted slightly in confusion.

"Sesshomaru is not on the battlefield?"

"No," Inuyasha replied, peaking open one eye, "he was called back here by Naraku."

Izayoi frowned.

"That is strange."

Inuyasha sat up, peeling away the bandana the head wraps crowning his white hair so he could release his ears.

"How?"

Slowly, worry pooled into Izayoi's eyes.

"I had heard no word of Sesshomaru ever coming back here."

"That is because Sesshomaru never did come back here. Or, at least, not officially so."

Inuyasha and Izayoi turned to the door of the room as the new voice added itself to the conversation. Seeing Naraku, both stood and offered a low bow.

"Oh, come now," Naraku opposed, "I am familiar enough with both of you that neither needs to bow."

Inuyasha wasted no time in returning to a stand.

"Hated bowing to an ass like you anyways." He grumbled under his breath, rubbing the back of his head while his ears twitched in annoyance.

"Inuyasha," Izayoi warned. Naraku smiled.

"It is quite alright," he addressed pleasantly, coming to stand near the two. "Inuyasha does quite a bit for this country. Hearing him whelp every now and then can be overlooked."

A vein appeared on Inuyasha's head.

"Whelp?" he ground out. Naraku ignored him as he bowed before Izayoi suddenly, grabbing her hand delicately in his and kissing it tenderly.

"I cannot, however, overlook how little I come to see you, Milady." He flattered against the back of her hand. Izayoi smiled and back in the doorway, Byakuya rolled his eyes.

"That is quite alright, Naraku. You do enough for me as it is, you need not prostrate yourself."

"I do when addressing the one who raised me."

Izayoi chuckled lightly while an enraged aura began to emanate from Inuyasha.

"Formalities aside," Naraku said now, releasing Izayoi's hand and moving to look out one of the tower windows, "I must inform you of Sesshomaru's condition."

Inuyasha's anger dwindled into a grim countenance as he crossed his arms. His red armor clinked in response. Izayoi glanced from the tense form of Naraku to the equally rigid form of Inuyasha.

"What . . ." she started hesitantly, "has happened?"

A silence fell over the two before Naraku turned to the two of them.

"Sesshomaru has been swallowed by the abyss of the Pitch Caves."

Izayoi's eyes widened as her hands came to rest over her heart in worry. Inuyasha did his best not to scream when he said, "That's impossible. I knew something was up when you only said he might be dead in your letter. Why in the _hell_ would Sesshomaru be in the Pitch Caves in the first place?"

"He was running an errand for me."

"With 200 soldiers? He left the battlefield with them, Naraku, what kind of errand requires that many arms?"

"The errand of taking Wolf Valley."

Izayoi tensed slightly.

"Wolf . . . Valley?" Inuyasha spoke in disbelief. Naraku smiled.

"Quite."

". . . Why?"

Naraku moved across the room, beginning a steady pace back and forth as he prepared to be questioned.

"To claim a treasure I have sought for quite some time now. One kept secret from the world."

"The Lupine have no such treasure." Izayoi whispered, not realizing that the tone of her voice had grown defensive.

"None that you would know of, Milady."

The woman tried to keep her offended response from showing in her expression. Her ears wilted back slightly.

"Okay, so that still doesn't explain how Sesshomaru would just _fall_ down a hole in the Pitch Caves! He's an idiot but at least he knows how to avoid an edge!"

"Let's just say Kouga was not so easily willing to let his treasure be taken."

"They were attacked?"

"By day." Naraku answered simply.

"How many dead?"

"199 out of 201."

Inuyasha's sharp intake of breath did not go unnoticed by Izayoi.

"Who were the two survivors?" she asked.

Naraku's face was unreadable as he stopped his pacing.

"Tensoumaru of the Taisho Clan, Sesshomaru's lieutenant, and Sesshomaru himself."

"I thought you said he was dead." Inuyasha bit out.

"I believe, in my letter, Inuyasha, I said that Sesshomaru _might_ be dead. His demise has not been confirmed."

" _Why didn't you just put that in the letter in the first place?_ " Inuyasha snapped.

"Because I need you to retrieve from him, Inuyasha, my treasure. Wither he be dead or alive, the object I seek fell with him and I require it in my hands before the summer solstice that will take place in a couple of weeks."

"The summer solstice?" Izayoi put forth. "Why the solstice?"

"Such things are not yet ready to be revealed, _Lady Izayoi_."

" _Feh!_ " Inuyasha huffed as he walked over to the window. He allowed the slow night breeze to cool his head. He wasn't ready for such a heated discussion as this. He was tired. Yes, because he was half Lupine, he could travel during day hours. However, it was still taxing on him, and after travelling about a week to get to CovenHaven with minimal breaks he was utterly _exhausted_.

"Why me?" Inuyasha said finally, " _why Miroku?_ "

"Because I would trust no one more than yourself to retrieve the treasure for me in the event of Sesshomaru's death." Naraku replied darkly. Inuyasha glanced towards his mother once before sighing.

"And Miroku?"

"You will need assistance. The wolves are searching for this treasure as well."

"Taking one of your head generals away from the battlefield is reckless, Naraku."

"Bankotsu is a more than able General."

"He's going to cause unnecessary trouble with his group, you're aware of that?"

Naraku smiled.

"Quite."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes before moving to the door of the room. Next to the large portal –where Byakuya stood angry and forgotten- a large object leaned against the wall. The hybrid Vampir grasped the hilt of his Tessaiga before strapping it onto his back and turning to his king.

"Any suggestions of how to enter the caves without encountering any Lupine?" Inuyasha asked hotly. Naraku smiled before bowing slightly to Izayoi and meeting his irritant general at the door.

"Follow me."

~ . . . ~

"So this is it?" Miroku asked as he stared, unimpressed, at the wooden door before them. The obvious lack of enthusiasm pouring off his lieutenant's body began to irritate Inuyasha as a vein appeared on his forehead.

"Yeah. It is. You know, if you're not into this, Miroku, you shouldn't have come in the first place." Inuyasha ground out.

"Inuyasha," Miroku addressed eloquently, "if an activity presented before me lacks beautiful women and alcohol I am – for the most part- not going to be very 'into it'. I thought you would have realized that about me after the past 24 years. Also, it is not as if I had much of a choice coming down here in the first place."

"Well you could at least _act_ like this is a job."

"I am."

"No, you're not!"

"Inuyasha. Finding Sesshomaru is very important to me."

"Yeah, can you repeat that with a little more _actual_ feeling in your voice?"

"But, I'm serious! Despite how often he calls me 'useless' and interrupts my illicit activities I really do care for that guy!"

"I'm leaving."

"Wait," Miroku called as Inuyasha opened the wooden door in front of them and entered into the tunnel, "I was just joking around, Inuyasha! I could never find Sesshomaru more important than a fine woman!"

"Quit it, Miroku." Inuyasha huffed as he reached towards a dead torch on the wall. Plucking it from its socket, he then dipped the head into the basin of _Houou_ that sat beneath it. Squeezing the excess out of the torch wrappings with his hand, Inuyasha wiped the rest off on his thigh before he leaned forward and blew on the torch. It ignited and instantly the cave around them became visible. Miroku whistled as he marveled at how far down the tunnel seemed to descend.

"So the legends of Sukoba's maze really are true?" Miroku wondered aloud. Inuyasha rolled his shoulders beneath his heavy armor before closing the door behind them and making his way down the tunnel path. "I didn't think there would be an entrance underneath the castle."

"Do I even want to know what this legend is about?" Inuyasha grumbled as Miroku fell into step behind him.

"You don't already?" Miroku asked in astonishment.

"If you didn't guess by me asking, Miroku, no, I don't."

"That's quite odd. I'm pretty sure your father had a lot to do with the legend."

"Inutaisho?" Inuyasha astonished.

"Yeah. The legend goes that this Lupine slave and a Vampir court painter fell in love with one another and used this huge expanse of maze underground to meet secretly. Eventually they were found out and your father executed them. This was back before The 50 Years of Peace, pretty ironic, huh?"

Inuyasha's face became shadowed as he considered his father and his mother's marriage.

"Yeah." He muttered. Miroku watched Inuyasha's expression morphed into a deadpan and began to regret telling his childhood friend the story in the first place. As a child born of a Vampir and a Lupine, Inuyasha was probably disturbed to hear that his father had executed a pair of lovers much like his parents. Miroku needed to change the subject.

"Anyways, I had thought that all of the entrances into the maze had been destroyed?"

"They have." Inuyasha countered. Miroku frowned.

"Then why are we down here?"

"So we can get into the Pitch Caves without Kouga noticing."

"Through . . . the maze?"

"Where else?"

"But I thought you just agreed that all the entrances were closed!"

"They are!"

"Then what are we doing down here-"

Miroku stopped his attack when the path in front of them suddenly stopped, blocked by a pile of rubble and rocks that seemed foolish to dream of moving.

"See what I mean, Inuyasha? We can't get in through here."

"Oh, would you just stop talking, Miroku! We're just gonna burst through the damn thing!"

"We don't have _explosives_ , Inuyasha. And even if we did, it would be too dangerous. How are we going to do-" Miroku froze in place as Inuyasha approached the obstacle, slowly pulling out his Tessaiga. "No." Miroku moaned. "Inuyasha, you'll bring the entire tunnel down around us!"

A determined smirk slowly paved its way onto Inuyasha's face.

"Not if we move fast enough and I time this Wind Scar right."

Miroku closed his eyes and tried to quell his retort. It was foolish to argue with Inuyasha. Shifting the pack of supplies strung over his shoulder, Miroku drew the staff that was strapped to his back. His dark purple armor creaked.

" _This is insane_." He sighed as he prepared himself to run. "We're risking our lives here, you know?"

"Aren't we always?" Was Inuyasha's answer as he pulled the black cloth covering the blade of his sword away and brought the weapon in front of him. Miroku could feel the ancient magic pooling off the sword in waves, the raw feeling of power emanating from the weapon never ceasing to amaze him. Then he remembered what his idiot general was about to do and the amazement depleted.

"We're gonna die." He whispered comically to himself, " _I'm_ gonna die."

"Oh, shut up, Miroku," Inuyasha grunted as he pulled his sword over his head, "you are not. Going. To. Die!"

He swung and an earth-shattering wave of power and yellow light shot forth from the sword and collided into the rubble. An explosion echoed around the tunnel and the dust and smoke that rose up rendered Miroku blind.

"Inuyasha?" he screamed over the quaking of earth, "Run now?"

"Yes! Run now!"

And Miroku ran forward. The only words that came out clearly in his mind as he ran, though, were simple.

' _The trust I put in this guy is going to kill me one of these days.'_

~ . . . ~

Kouga didn't have to inspect the blood on the luminescent, blue rock face closer to understand that it was his sister's. Anger boiled through his body as his lips drew back and his canines became visible.

"I'm going to _kill_ that bat-scum!" he growled as his blue eyes burned. The small group of Lupine soldiers led by Kouga had finally reached the bottom of the shaft that the princess had fallen into after a week-long descent. It had taken a copious amount of their rope but they had managed and Kouga was more than eager to search out his sister and bleed the life out of the Vampir that was with her.

"Now, Kouga," Ginta dared, "we can focus on Sesshomaru later. For now, we just need to think about finding little Rin."

"Yeah, let's just focus on Rin for now, Kouga." Hakkaku chimed. Kouga's scowling face, highlighted in the glow of the blue rock, softened.

"You're . . . right." He admitted. The killing aura around him dissipated. Kouga rose from the crouching position next to the flecks of blood and brushed himself off.

"These caves must expand for days. They probably went deeper to find a way out, though I doubt they have yet. We'll follow Rin's scent and catch up to them!"

"Yeah!" Ginta cheered.

"That's the spirit, Kouga!" Hakkaku added.

Kouga suppressed the positive feeling that stirred from his lieutenants' enthusiasm, hardening the stern persona he had adorned. He had no time to fool around. He _had_ to find his sister.

"Alright then, all of you," Kouga addressed to his small party, "let's head further in." The pack leader began walking towards the tunnel entrance leading deeper into the caves, the scent of his sister strong but waned over the passage of a few days. The Lupine was determined. He would find Rin.


	12. Chapter 12

_AN: Rather short, but I promise, I'll make the next one longer. Just wanted to get this chapter out there for y'all. Sorry for the wait! ^ ^_

"SHARED."

 **"LUPINE."**

 _ **"VAMPIR."**_

 _"SHARED MENTAL."_

 _ **"VAMPIR MENTAL."**_

11

Rin was not well versed in the art of holding or starting a conversation.

Never in her life had she needed this talent. Back in Wolf Valley, whenever Rin had found herself needing to speak to someone, for the most part, they would instigate the conversation first. She was a princess, and as such, when she walked through the humble roads of her village, people were social towards _her._ That was why, as she hobbled next to Sesshomaru, a man –very clearly- of few words, through the glowing blue tunnels of the underground maze, she was at a complete loss.

No words came to her.

And it was making the air about the both of them uncomfortable and, in all meanings of the word, awkward.

To make matters even worse, it had been like this for the past week. As Rin's broken legs healed and Sesshomaru had had to carry her, this awkwardness of trying – and failing- several times to speak to the man of whom she had no clue the intent of, was suffocating Rin. That was what had spurred Rin to walk on her own. Her desperation of being away from his overwhelming silence had driven her to walk on her nearly-healed-yet-not-quite-so calves and grit her teeth while doing so.

And still there was this awkwardness. After a _week._

Rin sighed.

Beside her, Sesshomaru cast a well-hidden glance at her legs.

"We will rest here." He spoke suddenly, his regal stride coming to a stop. This caught Rin off-guard and she stopped as well. She recognized his unease about her condition, probably because it would slow their exit, and found herself smiling softly. Even if it wasn't concern necessarily towards _herself_ , the fact that he had spoken at all had Rin feeling better.

"I am fine, General. We can continue." She promised. Sesshomaru's eyes glinted with skepticism. His face remained rigid as his eyes scanned her over once more. Rin smiled in assurance, and -after a moment- the General seemed to accept that Rin was not at the end of her stamina rope quite yet and turned ahead once more. He began walking, but this time his pace was more restrained; slower. A blush speckled Rin's cheeks as she looked ahead. He was walking slower for her.

"Thank you," she spoke quietly. Sesshomaru said nothing.

They walked; illuminated by the blue light they made their way through the numerous twisting and curving tunnels. Occasionally, Sesshomaru would have to aid Rin over a rock, but little more than that did they associate.

"I am very grateful for your help, General." Rin whispered as Sesshomaru set her down on the other side of their current obstacle. The boulder, taking up most of the path, warranted that Sesshomaru had had to scoop Rin up and jump over it with her in his arms. She could have very easily made the jump if she was in her normal condition, but –seeing as her legs weren't completely healed- it would be more annoying than kind for her to attempt the leap by herself. If anything, she probably would have ended up more wounded and making Sesshomaru even more upset by their situation.

"Do not hold this Sesshomaru in your gratitude, princess," again he spoke her title without any true recognition behind it, causing Rin to flinch. "You will have nothing to be grateful for when we reach the exit of this cave."

Rin's eyes softened, a mixture of sadness and fear at the thought of being turned over to Naraku causing her to shudder slightly. Her hands curled into fists and her nails dug slightly into her palms. If Sesshomaru noticed the way she cringed when he brought up the man that had ordered her village attacked he did not show it.

Turning, he began walking again, Rin frowned slightly before she pattered after him.

In an attempt to keep the small exchange going, Rin opened her mouth once more.

"Are your wounds treating you well, General?" she asked as she fell into step behind him.

"You have no room to worry for this Sesshomaru's well being when it is you who are injured."

Rin smiled.

"Yes, but we Lupine's heal quickly. It has only been a week but I doubt that my legs will take more than a day more to heal."

". . . This Sesshomaru's wounds healed long ago."

"Is it because of my blood?"

Sesshomaru stopped abruptly, causing Rin to jolt to a halt behind him. Flushing madly, the Lupine Princess instantly regretted her question.

"I-I'm sorry, General. If it is still too soon to discuss-"

"Quiet."

Rin stuttered to a stop before looking questioningly at the man in front of her.

"General?" she whispered. Golden orbs flashed back in Rin's direction once before moving back to something ahead. Rin frowned. Stepping forward lightly, she drew close to the rigid form of the Vampir in front of her and peered around his back timidly. Her breath caught in her throat when she focused in on the hunched over form on the ground a few yards ahead.

Breath contracting slowly, body tense, the two headed dragon regarded the intruders of his space in a mixture of curiosity and hostility. Rin's eyes widened at the sudden appearance of the beast, and she trembled when its gaze met hers. Slowly, Sesshomaru lifted his right hand to grip his blade. The lips of the beast drew back to reveal its fangs as it growled in response, its four eyes shooting back towards Sesshomaru. The dragon's warning increased in volume every inch the General's fingers grew closer to Tokijin's hilt and soon it was on its feet.

Sesshomaru grasped his sword and the ringing of metal slowly scraping upon metal resounded through the tunnel as he drew it.

"Stand back." he ordered Rin simply. She nodded hesitantly before doing as he said and retreating a few feet. It was when she crouched near the tunnel wall that she noticed it, however; the sleek red trail staining the underbelly of the beast. It was wounded, the princess realized in shock.

Sesshomaru slowly brought his blade before himself, his eyes growing red as he began to feel the aura around him churn and channel itself into his sword. It glowed a faint blue to match the tunnel walls as he brought it upwards.

"Dragon's Stri-"

"Stop!"

Sesshomaru tensed at the cry of the princess behind him, giving the dragon before him the chance he needed. In a flashing movement, the beast's tail whipped out at the general. Instincts snapping into action, Sesshomaru flew back from the attack in a fluid motion landing quietly beside the princess. The two-headed dragon roared in fury and Sesshomaru poised to send his attack forth once more.

"Don't." Rin spoke firmly. Sesshomaru humored the Princess with a cool glare as he readied to strike again. Their gazes met one another and Sesshomaru couldn't help but feel a little intimidated by the fire presented in her eyes. His golden orbs relented in their icy stare just a little.

"This Sesshomaru will not kill it."

Rin's lips fell apart as Sesshomaru disappeared in a flash of white. A cry resounded through the tunnel as the dragon was struck harshly behind both of its heads. Groaning in pain, the beast toppled to the ground, knees buckling. Its yellow eyes rolled back and it let out a small whine as it passed out. Sesshomaru appeared behind Rin then, causing her to shriek slightly in surprise.

"Why pity this one?" Sesshomaru asked, ignoring her surprise to sheath his inverted sword. Rin glanced at the blade briefly, realizing happily that the strange way he had been holding it was because he had used its hilt to strike instead of the blade.

"Because it was injured," Rin answered as she shakily stood and tore her eyes away from the sword. Sesshomaru remained quiet as he regarded her intensely. Rin dusted herself off and began approaching the slumbering animal.

"The dragon that had attacked me where we fell was trying to kill me and eat me. This one was simply minding its own when we stumbled upon it; it was injured and no doubt trying to protect itself when two strange people stumbled upon it. We didn't need to kill it." Rin explained as she knelt by the dragon and petted the dark mane of its right head apologetically. "I hope it will harbor no ill will towards us."

Sesshomaru frowned.

"A foolish hope."

Rin glanced up at the General as he began striding past the animal. Offering one last silent apology, she rose and followed after him.

"Why would you consider it foolish? To keep healthy relations with all whom you meet is preferable is it not?"

Sesshomaru didn't even spare the princess a glance when he answered.

"You are naïve."

A small smile crept its way onto Rin's face.

"When I was younger, my father would tell me that it was the naïve people in the world that kept everyone else from succumbing to the dark aspects of life."

". . . Your father was naïve as well."

Rin giggled.

"That is what Kouga had said."

Sesshomaru cast Rin a sidelong glance before stopping. Rin began to open her mouth in question but stopped when the General kneeled before her, offering her his back.

"Get on."

Rin's eyes widened before she glanced down at her legs. Noticing the slight bruising around the bandages wrapped about her calves she wondered how she hadn't felt something was wrong when they had been walking. Nodded timidly, Rin climbed on the Vampir general and wrapped her arms around his neck.

He hoisted her up and Rin couldn't help but notice their pace went a lot faster then.

~ . . . ~

"It's quite curious, is it not? The relationship between humans and Vampir." Naraku purred darkly as he petted the hair of the mewling naked woman that clawed at his lap. His red eyes didn't move from the woman's parted lips as she whispered seductively at his inner thigh, but he could still see the figure garbed in shadow near the back of the throne room shift slightly at the question addressed towards him.

"If curious is the word you would use to describe our relations, Sire." a ghostly, youthful voice replied. Naraku smiled as he rubbed a finger along the woman's bottom lip.

"I would."

"Then curious it is, Sire."

The Vampir did not reply as he lifted the woman from her kneeling position into his lap. Her legs straddled his, and at the slight connection made through the King's cloths, Naraku's eyes glowed crimson in desire. The woman pulled her dark wavy hair away from her neck and leaned forward to offer it to the Vampir. Naraku chuckled as he graciously accepted the presented blood and sunk his teeth into the taught skin of the woman. She gave out a small cry of ecstasy before she fell forward and began shifting wantonly on his lap.

The king of the Vampir was garbed in long black and crimson cloths that pooled around the throne he sat upon and under his current "entertainment". His hair was tied up in a long, simple tail, and as he leaned deeper into the neck of his meal, luscious waves of dark locks fell over his shoulder. The woman moaned in pleasure as the stimulating chemicals flowed through her veins, allowing Naraku to take in more and more blood.

After some time, the woman's cries began to die down and her eyes droop. Breath becoming labored, the human found herself leaning more and more heavily on the king in front of her. In a sudden motion, Naraku pulled his fangs from the woman, allowing her to collapse onto him as she gasped for air. Two trails of blood trickled down her neck from the bite.

Naraku was full.

Wiping the blood from his mouth, Naraku rose from the throne, shifting the woman to the side so she lay unconscious on the golden chair. His robes trailed behind him as he approached the kneeling figure in the shadow.

"They are headed towards your village. I have sent Inuyasha but I doubt he will return my treasure to me before the solstice. Retrieve her."

"Yes, sire." the figure said, rising out of a crouch to bow to his master. "Is that all you will have me do?"

Naraku smirked darkly. "For the time being, yes."

"Then I will take my leave." The figure turned and began striding towards the large exit that took up most of the wall.

"Kohaku," Naraku called out.

Brown eyes widened slightly at the sudden address as the young warrior turned back to face his master. The moonlight pouring in from the wide opening in the ceiling made the leaf-green garbs and multitude of weapons adorning the boy glow.

"Please give my regards to your sister."

Kohaku's eyes changed slightly but his face remained passive as he bowed.

"Very well, sire." he replied. And with that, he disappeared into the darkened halls of the castle.


	13. Chapter 13

AN: So sorry, guys! I'm afraid my updates are gonna be a little more spaced out from now on. School is really taking up a lot of my time (junior year is a lot of work! ^ ^') but I'll try to keep writing in my spare time. In an attempt to kinda get the story moving along I completely went against what I had originally planned for their departure from Sukoba's Maze. It was kinda one of those 'spontaneous ideas' that are supposed to help spice up a story. I think it worked out rather well in this chapter. Please tell me what you think too! Review! REVIEW!

P.S. You get to find out which special Inuyasha character is Rin and Kouga's dad in this chapter! (I'm so excited! Ya'll have no idea how deep this plot is about to get.)

* * *

12

"We are almost there." Rin sighed as she stared forward into the never-ending expanse of tunnel in front of them. The scent of the outside world had begun to permeate stronger in the last two days they had been travelling. It had now grown so intense that it seemed to Rin's nose that they were outside already. Glancing across the flames of the small cooking fire that Rin had constructed, the princess glanced at her captor for a sign showing that he had heard her. She knew, instantly, that he had when her eyes met with his piercing golden ones and he held her gaze. A small shiver ran up Rin's back. His gaze was so cold, so chilling to the bone that the princess had to remind herself every time she met his gaze that she was inside a cave next to a flame instead of deserted upon a frozen tundra.

"You have not attempted to escape." he said slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. Rin gulped, sure that the statement had been more a question than a simple acknowledgement.

"No." she responded in like slowness, her mind pleading her to tear her eyes away. Her legs had healed completely over the last twenty-four hours, and Rin found herself in such good condition that she could run a mile if she had to. They had felt fine, perfect in fact. So she wondered why, then, that while he pinned her down with his glare she had begun to feel helpless and broken again; as if – if she tried to stand- her legs would be the way they were a few days ago and she would simply collapse back to the ground. Was this what falling prey to a snake was said to be like? Rin pondered morbidly. As if your body turned to stone simply by meeting the predator's eyes? Rin licked her lips timidly.

"Why?" Sesshomaru finally asked. Finally finding the courage to tear her gaze away from his, Rin shyly turned to the ground.

"Would you allow me?" she answered. Sesshomaru's lips turned down slightly, no doubt annoyed with his prisoner's lack of straightforwardness in answering his question. Finally, pulling himself up from the wall he had been resting upon, Sesshomaru pulled his hair back into a tail.

"You are weak." he said simply as kicked dirt into the flames to extinguish it. Rin, taking at as a sign they were leaving, stood as well and brushed the back of her dress with her hands.

"I suppose am." she replied lightly.

Rin was not prepared for what happened next.

In a sudden flash, Sesshomaru spun around, his eyes a blazing crimson, and he advanced upon her.

"G-General!?" Rin cried out in surprise as his firm hands gripped her wrists and he pushed her down so he straddled her.

" **Quiet.** " he growled, though his voice was not his. Rin's eyes widened in shock as he brushed her hair away from her neck and leaned down to it.. He was trying to feed from her, she realized. Her body went stock-still as she felt his tongue flick against her throat.

"W-wait, please!" Rin cried out as she began pushing against Sesshomaru's chest, "s-stop!"

The only answer she received was a low growl as the Vampir began leaving light kisses along the taught skin of Rin's neck. She didn't want to have to kick him. She shouldn't have to, either. But as the large form of the general began moving down her body, slowly pulling at her dress she was afraid she was going to have to hurt him.

"Sesshomaru- stop . . ." she murmured, shivering slightly under his touch and blushing madly. Finally, the Vampir rose back up so that his crimson eyes glowed in front of hers.

" **Mine.** " he growled as he leaned in one final time to her neck.

Rin froze.

"RIIIINNNN!"

An animalistic growl ripped its way out of Sesshomaru's throat as a ball of brown fur shot past, taking the general with it. The large sound of a 'CRACK' rang through the tunnel as Kouga smashed Sesshomaru up against the wall.

"THAT'S _MY_ SISTER, YOU BASTARD! _MY SISTER!_ " the Lupine prince screeched into the face of the thrashing Vampir. His voice boomed through the tunnels and Rin felt herself shudder in fright; she had never heard her brother scream like that. Sesshomaru, still lost in his blood thirst simply roared as he threw his head from side to side, his red eyes raging. Kouga, fury tearing through his body, had to keep himself from transforming then and there; his eyes blazed and glowed an electric blue. A sudden fear for Sesshomaru's life overtook Rin as she jumped to her feet.

"Brother! Stop!" she pleaded as she began running towards the two enemies.

She stopped, however, when Kouga shot an acidic glare towards her and caused her to gasp.

" _You will be quiet._ " he hissed.

"B-but-" Rin began, frightened tears beginning to dot her eyes. Kouga ignored her, instead glancing behind her.

"Ginta, Hakkaku, take the princess and begin heading towards the exit." he barked. Seeing his two lieutenants' hesitance he raged, "Now!"

Jumping slightly, Ginta and Hakkaku did as they were told and grabbed Rin by her arms, all the while muttering 'we're sorry, princess' and 'we have to'. Rin simply gaped at her brother as he slammed a fist into Sesshomaru's stomach making him stop thrashing and lurch forward.

"No." she whimpered, her ears folding back. "STOP IT-"

"HE WAS GOING TO RAPE YOU, RIN!" Kouga cried as he snapped his head towards his sister. His eyes still blazed with hatred but in them Rin could see a slight sadness.

"He was going to take your chastity then devour you."

Rin shook her head.

"No, he would never-"

"You know _nothing_ of this man, Rin!" Kouga pushed, "You know nothing!"

"I know that he hasn't hurt me in such ways willingly the entire time we've been in this cave!"

"That does not matter! He was going to take you to someone who would do much worse than that!"

"But he never-"

"Our father killed his, Rin! Whatever supposed "kindness" he has showed to you meant nothing! He despises us, Rin; more than you would ever know!"

Rin stood speechless as her brother panted from anger.

"Our father . . . did?" Rin whispered in shock.

"Yes. The death of Sesshomaru's father, King Inutaisho, was the reason the treaty of fifty years between our people ceased. Our father, Takemaru, killed his father out of jealousy."

"Wha- then that would make Sesshomaru a prince! What would a prince be doing out on the battlefield, brother? I don't understand, it is not possible!"

"Sesshomaru gave up the crown so he could kill _us_."

Rin felt her breath leave her completely. Sesshomaru . . . became a general –gave up his position as prince- all so that he could kill Lupine? Take _revenge?_ A slowly seeping bitterness entered Rin's heart; bitterness, as well as disappointment.

"But," Rin murmured weakly, "father would never have done something so cruel."

Kouga sneered.

"Men were different in the past, Rin. People change; some for the better and some for the worst. In our father's case: for the better. However, he was someone neither you nor I would understand back in the warring times."

Rin shook her head in denial as a tense silence settled over the conflicting party.

Finally, an out of place voice arose.

"You've said too much this time, _wolf_."

Instantly, Rin and Kouga both snapped their attention back to Sesshomaru as, his eyes now gold, he drew his sword from the hilt at his side and plunged it into Kouga's abdomen.

Rin . . . stared, her mouth slightly open, as blood began gushing from the wound and Kouga staggered to his knees. The wolf prince's eyes were wide as he stared at the blade protruding from his front. He simply gazed at it, his mind not registering the pain through his shock. Finally, as if a dam had snapped in his mind, the Lupine Prince's face crumpled as he fell over with a pained grunt.

Sesshomaru removed his sword as tears exploded from Rin's eyes.

"KOUGA!" she screamed as she yanked herself away from the shocked Ginta and Hakkaku and launched herself towards her brother's body. Her arms were outstretched as she fell to her knees beside him and she instantly began inspecting his wound in a fevered panic. 'Kouga' she muttered over and over, tears streaming down her face as she moved his head into her lap. Feet away Ginta and Hakkaku simply stared in muted horror at the scene of Rin leaning over the body of their prince with the Vampir general looming over them.

Rin looked up to her captor with watery eyes and he gazed back, face void of any prominent feeling. His lips were unmoving and his face was stern as if he were saying 'Can you? Can you still forgive me after this?' Rin bit her lips to hold back a sob.

"So cruel." she whispered, bowing her head so her nose touched with her brother's. Sesshomaru said nothing, simply observed her a few moments longer before he began a steady stride towards the wolf prince's two lieutenants. Instantly both of the men shrank back, taking tentative steps towards the cave wall behind them. Sesshomaru observed them coldly before raising his blade to strike them down.

"Don't."

Sesshomaru paused. His golden irises seemed to blaze when he turned his head to gaze back at Rin. Eyes narrowing, he frowned as he took in the princess' shaking hand holding the sharp, jagged cave stone to her throat.

"If you touch them I will cut myself, General." she spoke firmly. Beneath her, Kouga watched her tiredly with a weak objection on -but never quite making it past- his lips. Rin stroked his hair once to let him know she was knew what she was doing and he didn't argue with her. With the determined fire that radiated from her fierce brown eyes seemingly burning their way through Sesshomaru's, he wasn't even sure if he was ready to fight his sister on this.

While the prince laid, weakly fascinated by his sister's strength, Sesshomaru regarded the defiance with annoyance and offence at the challenge. He turned himself around fully, intentionally making himself loom over her to show her how foolish such rebellion was. Rin, however, did not relent, and as he took one step forward she shifted herself and equal amount of space back.

"Leave them be." she demanded more sternly. Sesshomaru's frown deepened and Rin's hand quivered slightly as the waves of anger that began running off of the Vampir's form engulfed her. Gathering her courage, she gulped down the fear lodged in her throat and made her countenance even more firm.

"You," Rin began, her voice cracking slightly in fear, "you will take me and we will leave this cave."

Sesshomaru said nothing so the princess timidly continued.

"You will leave my brother and you will take me to Naraku and no one will be harmed as we go."

"Princess, no-" Ginta began. Rin ignored him as she spoke more forcefully.

"It is-" sweat trickled down Rin's forehead, "It is night outside currently. If we leave without hurting anyone we can travel quickly and Ginta and Hakkaku will not follow us."

Beneath her Rin tried not to mind her brother's whispered 'Rin. No.'.

"I will even give you some of my blood as payment for leaving them."

At this Sesshomaru's eyes flashed angrily, but slowly he found himself powerless in the face of the Lupine princess' determination and he sheathed his sword.

"Come." he said finally, turning on his heal and slowly striding towards the cave exit. The princess smiled in relief.

"Rin." Kouga murmured weakly as his sister moved his head from her lap and placed it tenderly on the floor of the tunnel. Rin smiled tenderly at her brother once before she bent down and kissed his forehead.

Dropping the make-shift dagger to the ground Rin hurried after Sesshomaru. She paused momentarily as she passed the stunned forms of Ginta and Hakkaku.

"Take care of my brother, sirs." she commanded warmly. Both of the lieutenant's slowly nodded their heads as Rin continued on. They watched her, elegant brown hair and white dress flowing behind her as she went to meet her fate with her head held high. Hakkaku sighed, his eyes sad as he clenched his fists.

"But princess," he whispered, "who will take care of you?"

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AN: SO THE DADDY IS TAKEMARU OF SETSUNA (please tell me that if you're reading this you've seen Inuyasha The Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler. if you haven't then WATCH IT NOW)! So. I thought that was kinda a great plot twist. Anyways, I'll go a little deeper on that thought in the next chapter. Rin, also, has changed her opinion of Sesshomaru in this chapter and I hope I didn't portray that too poorly. -_-' It was sorta supposed to be a major thing, so…

Anyways.

PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE MY REVIEWERS (and viewers) SO MUCH SO PLEASE LET ME SEE WHO YOU ARE! PLEASE REVIEW! ^ ^


	14. Chapter 14

**_AN: Soooo. It took awhile, but here you go! I've been really busy with finals and school and shtuff lately so I hope you can forgive the late update. Luckily, this chapter is rather long and is change of scenery for once! I hope you enjoy it. I don't really have anything else to say so I'll leave you to read the chapter. Please REVIEW! I love it when you guys review! And, besides, I'm about to reach 100 reviews so maybe I'll do something special for next chapter if you guys comment! ^ ^ Onegaishimasu!_**

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13

 _Rin kept her eyes trained on Sesshomaru as he slowly approached her, his red eyes blazing and his long canines exposed. Every step he took forward, Rin took a stumbling step back, her small form trembling with fear as if she were prey before a predator. A small gasp escaped her when her back hit the rough bark of a tree and escape was instantly cut off as the General materialized in front of her. The moon, large and full, silhouetted his armored frame making him appear twice as intimidating and caused his hair to glow like a silver ribbon in sunlight. In the shadow of his form only his eyes were visible, a blazing crimson._

" _ **You will be mine**_ _," his deep voice asserted. Rin shivered as his right hand found its way to her thigh and slowly brought her leg up to his waist. Instinctually, Rin wrapped it around him as Sesshomaru tilted her head back to leave her neck exposed to him. Rin's senses went dull as her body took over and relented to the intimate touches of the man as he massaged her breasts through her dress and moved the hand on her thigh to her hips. His lips grazed against her jugular and Rin stilled in muted anticipation._

" _ **Mine**_ _." He repeated, yet this time something was wrong. Rin's eyes shot open from their previously closed state to the face of the man at her neck. Her heart stopped when, instead of silver ribbons, her vision was filled with inky black waves. Red eyes moved to meet hers and Rin held back a scream. This was not Sesshomaru. And she no longer presided in the forest._

 _Instead, she found herself tied down, naked, to a large slab of stone, strange markings bordering its edges intricately and a large star-like formation at its head. The air around her was cold, Rin knew this, but she could not feel the chill against her body. It was unreal._

" _What is this?" Rin whispered as a horrified tremble shot through her body. "Wh-Who are you?"_

" _Come now, princess," this man drawled as he ran chilling fingers down Rin's side and pushed his lips to hers. They were smooth but cold and as he moved the kiss Rin felt a sudden disgust rise in the pit of her stomach. She could not find the strength in herself to move, however, so she simply accepted the twisted kiss with tears making their way down her face. Somehow, she knew this had to do with the table. The altar. Whatever is was it rendered her completely helpless in the face of this stranger. No, not a stranger. This was Naraku. Rin knew this as soon as she had seen his cold crimson eyes and his easy smirk. "Do you not enjoy my presence as much as your General's? I would have thought that a man so cold would be better off forgotten."_

 _For some reason, these words sent a sickening shudder through Rin's insides._

" _Where?" Rin dared, her voice barely above a whisper. "Where is Sesshomaru?"_

" _I'd have thought you would have noticed." Naraku's eyes danced humorlessly as he chuckled and placed a cold hand over her lower abdomen and pressed down. Rin cried out as she began to feel her insides push in with his movement. "He's right here."_

 _His hand dipped into her skin and she screamed._

. . .

. .

.

"Wake up."

Rin let out a shuddering gasp as she shot up out of the make-shift bed. All around her, the soft leaves she had collected to rest upon were damp and matted, as if Rin had been tossing and turning on them. Looking up, Rin tried not to gasp when she realized just how close –exactly- Sesshomaru was.

"General." Rin greeted, her tone surprised. "What hour is it?"

Sesshomaru stayed silent as he took in Rin's disheveled form one more time before he stood up from his crouched position next to her and regarded the fading light barely visible over the tree tops.

"The sun set less than an hour ago." He responded coolly, his ponytail billowing back as a light breeze floated through the small clearing that had made camp in. Rin reveled in the feel of the cool ( _real_ ) air on her skin as she followed Sesshomaru into a stranding position and stretched, her brown tail flicking timidly behind her.

It had been a day since she had left Kouga in the cave with his lieutenants, and Rin still had yet to figure out how exactly she was to deal with Sesshomaru, much less Naraku (especially now that she was having illicit, terrifying dreams with both of them in it). She had been surprised, to say the least, to discover that Sesshomaru was the true heir to the throne of the Vampir. With the way the man treated her, cold and distant, she had thought him nothing more than a soldier hardened by war. It wasn't war that had hardened him, though, Rin had discovered. It was the death of his father, at the hands of hers. Her father, Setsuna no Takemaru, was the cause of this and she could not figure if she was ashamed or simply sad that her family had been the one to end the fifty years of peace between their two races. The war, the _death_ was her father's fault. She was so unsure. She just didn't know anymore, and she had several questions. All of them she thought better not to ask Sesshomaru. _Especially_ not the general.

"Are we to head south?" Rin questioned instead as she watched the general scan the sky for something, trying not to picture him pinning her to a tree and making love to her with blazing crimson eyes.

"No."

Rin glanced at the man in puzzlement.

"But CovenHaven lies to the south, doesn't it? General?" Rin asked, her tone light in confusion.

"We will wait." Sesshomaru finalized.

Rin stared in wonder at him for a second.

"Is it still too light outside for you to travel, General?"

"That is not -"

"MASTER SESSHOMARU!"

Rin let out a surprised cry as a blur of green and black rushed past her to land at the feet of the general.

"MILORD!" the small green creature – a gargoyle- cried, weeping into the ground as he bowed at the Vampir's feet. "HOW I'VE SEARCHED FOR YOU! I HAD THOUGHT YOU DEA-"

 _Smack!_

The green creature went flying past Rin as Sesshomaru kicked it into the tree behind her.

"Do not belittle my ability, Jaken." Sesshomaru ordered as he strode towards the demon with a frown in place.

"Yes, Milord!" the creature, Jaken, replied as he leapt to his feet and gave a stern salute. Rin watched the exchange, eyes wide, before she let out a small giggle. Instantly, both men looked towards her (though she wasn't sure if Jaken was a man or not) with a mix of anger and wonder. It seemed to take the small monster a second to realize that the Lupine girl standing a few feet away was not laughing for no reason.

"How dare you, insolent wench! To laugh at his lordship is worthy of death!" the small creature screeched, his large, bulging eyes seeming to pop out of his skull as his green skin turned red and his wings flapped angrily. Rin giggle just seemed to escalate into a guffaw as she held her mid-section, clearly amused by how the gargoyle was wrong: she was laughing at _him_ not the general. However, Jaken didn't seem to process this and just continued to scream in outrage. Sesshomaru, however, watched in mild surprise as Rin laughed, her cheeks flushed and her tail wagging. He wasn't sure what in him decided it, but he believed he was rather inclined towards her smile.

"Stupid Lupine girl! How dare you!" Jaken continued to screech as he stood on his scaly two feet and began to pace towards the Lupine princess. "This Jaken will just have to teach you how to hold your tongue in the presence of his lordship!"

"Jaken." Sesshomaru voice cut in just as the gargoyle pulled back his little fist. "If you touch her this Sesshomaru will have to kill you." Instantly, the small animal's anger seemed to deflate.

"But, Milord," Jaken awed. Rin had stopped laughing then to regard the Vampir with a small blush. Had he protected her?

"She is the princess of the Lupine, the prize of Naraku. If you touch her there is nothing this Sesshomaru can do to save you." Sesshomaru informed, effectively diffusing Jaken and disappointing Rin. She had thought he had done it to protect her. "What news do you have from the king?"

"That's just it, Milord!" Jaken cried as he threw up his arms, his excited anger suddenly flashing back into his yellow eyes again. "The king has told me nothing, he thinks you are dead! He's even sent that half-breed Inuyasha to come and take the princess back himself."

"Inuyasha is in pursuit?" Sesshomaru questioned, a slight grit to his voice as he lightly clenched his fists.

"Yes, Milord, he entered the maze no less than two days ago, the damn brat! If I were Naraku, I would just have his mother and his half-breed-self killed, the mutts!"

Rin's ears wilted back in sadness and worry as Jaken continued to berate the Lady Izayoi and her son. Her brother was in the caves. Was he going to be alright with Inuyasha following after by the same means?

"The both of them are nothing but trouble!" the gargoyle rambled.

"Jaken, be quiet." Sesshomaru commanded then, already annoyed by his messenger's voice. Jaken replied with a curt 'y-yes, sire' before falling silent as the General turned to Rin. His sudden attention made the princess jump a little as he approached.

"Come," he said as he began striding past her into the forest. The direction of the south. Rin complied quietly with a nod as she began following after. Meanwhile, back in the clearing, Jaken extended his wings and began flapping after them.

"I have been meaning to ask you, General." Rin began quietly as she fell into step with the man, struggling slightly to keep up with his long stride as she stepped over leaves, roots, and twigs. Fingers rubbing together nervously, Rin's face fell into a red hue as she blushed.

"You have not taken my blood yet. I had promised you it in exchange for my lieutenants' lives. D-Do you intend to claim it?"

Sesshomaru's golden gaze, which had been trained to the small path within the trees that laid ahead of him, flickered in its intensity. Something like anger pooled into the yellow orbs as his mouth straightened into a deep line.

"General-"

Rin let out a cry of surprise as suddenly she was pushed up against a tree. Sesshomaru's eyes were red as he glared down at Rin with a fervency.

"Do you wish me to?" came his bitter reply. Rin's ears wilted back as she turned her face away from the Vampir, eyes seeking out any but his own. In the back of her mind, the memory of her dream seemed to come back vividly as Sesshomaru's thigh brushed against her own at their proximity. A shudder of fear shook through her body.

Seeing her shaking, Sesshomaru slowly released his grip on the wrists of the woman and turned away from her, his eyes fading back to gold.

"Do not tempt me, woman." His rigid voice whispered as a night breeze whispered through the trees. "Very nearly this Sesshomaru claimed you earlier in those caves. If you do not want something to happen to you that you would regret, do not sway my thirst. It has been too long since I have eaten. I will kill you."

Rin looked up at the face of her captor with a measure of fear as he turned away from her and began walking again. She was afraid of him, Rin realized. Not because of the possibility of him hurting her, but because –maybe- somewhere inside Rin, she wanted him to.

"PLEASE WAIT, MILORD!" Jaken cried out as he finally caught up, flying past Rin in a hurry. Rin ignored the noise of the gargoyle, instead, she wrapped her arms around herself and bit her lip. This was not good, she considered to herself. She had already discovered the true nature of the man before her. He hated Rin and her family, and he wanted her people dead. Her father had ruined his life and now he wanted revenge. Nothing else. Right? So why, _why_ did Rin feel this incessant need to be near him? It was a need she did not understand and did not want. Had it not been for this pure, curious _need_ Rin had no doubt that she would have already attempted to escape several times already.

"Do not make me wait, princess," Sesshomaru's deep voice called from ahead. Mind still swirling with her churning worries, Rin took a tentative step forward as she slowly followed behind him. Naraku was not her only problem now, Rin realized. This general; the one who'd fought against her brother, had killed thousands of her people, and hated her more than she could imagine was slowly becoming a strange sort of obsession for Rin. Heart clenching slightly, Rin dared to glance at his back as she fell into step a few meters behind his regal form.

Preparing for the vision of his silver hair to ensnare her attention, Rin was surprised to find that her eyes were drawn, instead, by something gleaming just slightly ahead of their strange entourage in the trees. The small white gleam seemed to sparkle temptingly as it flickered in the trees. Passing it off as a reflection of the sun off of a leaf, Rin almost turned away before it shifted just ever so slightly and then darted forth at a blinding speed.

Rin was too late to call out a warning to Sesshomaru.

Blood exploded out of Sesshomaru's shoulder as the white arrow pierced through his body and lodged itself in a tree meters behind him. The general, mouth agape and eyes red, let out a surprised gasp as the pain of the mysterious arrow pulsed through his body and he fell to his knees. Rin watched in horror as steam poured out of the wound in a cloud of red smoke.

"MILORD SESSHOMARU!" Jaken cried, turning to the direction the arrow came from only to be met with a small net. The gargoyles wings were instantly tangled in the ropes as he fell to the ground with a pained grunt.

Tail wilted and ears pushed back, Rin frantically looked around the forest for their invisible attackers. When, instead, she was met with an eerie silence the princess tensed in fear. Gathering what strength she had, Rin quickly moved herself in front of the general, placing herself between the man and their silent assailant.

"What are you doing, woman?" Sesshomaru growled as he cradled his right shoulder. Rin glanced back at him once, her slightly frightened eyes meeting his pained red ones.

"I will protect you," Rin whispered before she turned back towards the direction of the arrow-fire and transformed. Sesshomaru watched through the burning pain in his shoulder as Rin fazed into a large brown wolf and darted into the brush after the arrow's origin.

"You fool!" Sesshomaru growled after her as her tail fell out of sight. "These are not normal arrows!"

If Rin heard him she made no indication of that being so, as she sprinted after the scent of a quickly retreating human. She was not sure what she was going to do when – and _if_ – she caught the attacker but she knew already that the arrows that this person shot were dangerous and, left alone, they could cause problems.

A rustle in the trees ahead of her alerted Rin that she had caught up to the person and when she entered the clearing the human had led her too she was prepared for a fight.

Not for a small battalion of oddly dressed men carrying weapons.

A man stood before her, clearly in charge of the small group of ten or twelve warriors that slowly drew their weapons and closed in on Rin. Rin could not see his face clearly because of the mask that covered the lower-half of his face, but the large dark eyes that regarded her made her think he was probably young.

"Capture her," his voice commanded, and by the boyish tone to it Rin confirmed that he was, indeed, rather new to the world (AN: Lupine live a lot longer than humans so he's just a baby to Rin. ^ ^).

Taking a step back, Rin readied herself for the unavoidable conflict.

"Dragon's Strike."

The familiar phrase had Rin barreling out of the way as a large strike of blue lightning engulfed the small battalion. Rin almost let out a huff of relief but refrained when she noticed the state of the general.

His eyes were gold now, but large dark bags had gathered under his eyes and he was breathing rather heavily. Sweat trickled down his face and Rin couldn't help but think he looked about ready to die. Quickly phasing back into her human form, Rin rushed to his side and offered her shoulder as the general slumped to the side, dropping his blade in the process. The blood that stained the off-white shirt he wore had turned black as if it had been charred. Rin gulped in horror and she managed to rest the general's head against her shoulder and moved her with him slowly as she sunk to the ground.

"W-What was _in_ that arrow?" Rin stuttered in dismay as she inspected the scorched hole through Sesshomaru's shoulder and forced the general that was quickly losing consciousness to rest against her.

"It was made with wanstone. A mineral poisonous to Vampir due to the hours it has to be soaked in sunlight to be purified from its previous state. It burns whatever it touches on their skin."

Rin looked up with a gasp as the man, apparently unscathed from the general's attack, approached her from the slowly dissipating smoke of Sesshomaru's 'Dragon's Strike'. His mask had been taken off to reveal his handsome, rather boyish, freckled face as he regarded her blankly. His brown eyes seemed hollow now as he seemed eerily drawn to the way Rin's hand supported Sesshomaru's body against her. He looked disgusted.

"So you didn't manage to kill him, Kohaku? Regrettable."

Rin watched as another man appeared by Kohaku's side. He was large and was garbed in the same strange armor as Kohaku with the same mask adorning his face.

"My apologies, father. It appears that he was able to sense my presence before the arrow could reach his heart and he dodged." The young man replied solemnly.

"So he is strong, then?"

"He _is_ Naraku's most powerful general. He would have been nearly impossible to kill had he not been half starving at the time."

Rin felt a pang of guilt ring through her.

"Y-you know of Naraku?" Rin managed as she unknowingly began planting her fingers in Sesshomaru's hair and brushed through it in a Lupine gesture of comfort. Kohaku's eyes trained on Rin's hand as he frowned.

"Naraku is my lord and master. He has requested that I capture you, deliver you to him, and kill his general."

"But," Rin stared at the man in horror, "isn't Sesshomaru Naraku's general? Why would he-"

"I have no need to answer your questions, Lupine." Kohaku interrupted coldly. Rin shivered under his hollow gaze. Deeming the conversation over, Kohaku motioned to the rest of his men, all also unscathed, to retrieve the unconscious general from their new prisoner. Rin glanced at them before pulling Sesshomaru closer to her in a protective manner. She turned back to Kohaku with a new burning fierceness in her eyes. He _almost_ looked surprised.

"So, you are saying that Naraku betrayed Sesshomaru?" Rin whispered harshly. When her eyes began to glow a faint gold the men that had slowly began to approach her hesitated. "How vulgar a man, to abandon one of his own subjects!"

Kohaku's eyes flashed with a warning at the word "vulgar".

"You will not take him from me. I will not let you; not so you can kill him for his own lord. A death of betrayal is not one that honors this man's life." Rin tried to ignore that Sesshomaru's life had actually been one bathed in the blood of her people.

"And you are to stop us, Lupine?" Kohaku's father challenged as he slowly came to stand by his stoic son.

"She will not. But _I_ will." Called out the voice of a woman.

All Rin could see before the chaos began was the large form of what looked to be a cat with fire at its feet appearing between her and Kohaku. Then more humans appeared, one by one, each letting out a battle cry as they began attacking Kohaku's small group. The sound of battle engulfed Rin as she unconsciously drew Sesshomaru closer. She could hear cries as people died around her and metal on metal as they fought. Above everything else she could hear Kohaku's hollow voice cry angrily "Damn you, Sango!" before he and what remained of his group retreated into the forest.

Then a woman appeared in front of her.

She reminded Rin eerily of Kohaku, with her large dark eyes and dark hair, but instead of a hollow, cold reception, the woman smiled at her kindly as she offered her a pouch that smelled of water.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she knelt in front of Rin.

Rin stared at her, slightly entranced by how beautiful a human she was, before nodded her head numbly and looking down to check Sesshomaru's wound again.

"He is injured?" the question from the woman sounded more like an acknowledgement.

"Yes, that man injured him with w-wanestone?"

"Wanstone." she corrected half-heartedly as she leaned closer to inspect the Vampir general. "So he _is_ Vampir."

Rin nodded hesitantly. The woman regarded Rin then, seeming to take in every crevice of Rin's body and soul.

"Would you like to save him?" she asked finally as she rose to stand. Behind her a light-furred cat the size of a small Lupine regarded Rin coolly with red eyes. Seeing no other option, Rin slowly looked back to the woman and nodded.

"Please," she said weakly. The woman nodded with a small smile before calling on some of her men to come and retrieve the unconscious body of the Vampir. Rin was reluctant to give him away in light of recent events, but seeing how the woman and her followers had come to her rescue, Rin had little options. She let him go.

She watched as the men began carrying him to a pair of horses that stood to the side of the clearing.

"Will he be okay?" Rin asked quietly, eyes not leaving the slack, silver-framed, face of the man.

When a hand landed on her shoulder in a comforting manner, Rin turned to look at the woman as she smiled at her.

"He'll be fine. By the way, my name is Sango. I'm the head of battlements at my village under the holy rule of the Priestess. That man, Kohaku, was my little brother."

Rin couldn't help herself. "'Was'?"

Sango's bright eyes seemed to dim slightly before she let out a forlorn sigh. "Kohaku betrayed our village when he went to work under the Vampir King, Naraku. He, as well as my father, betrayed the village and now we work to stop them in their aiding of the king."

"Is that why you saved us?" Rin asked. Feeling slightly odd using the word "us", Rin felt like she was forgetting something.

"That's part of the reason. You are Princess Rin of the Lupine kingdom, are you not?" Sango questioned. Rin stood speechless at how easily she was recognized by a mere human but she quickly gathered herself and answered with a curt 'yes'. Sango smiled.

"Then Princess Rin, my Priestess has dreamt of your coming for quite some time. Might I ask you a question?"

"Please, go ahead." Rin assured.

"How would you feel about stopping this war and bringing peace throughout all of our land?"

Rin stared speechless at Sango, her eyes going wide as her mouth opened in surprise.

. . .

"W-What?"

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 ** _So that took awhile to write . . . -_-' I'll get started on chapter 14 as soon as I can so you guys don't ahve to wait too long for another chapter. Anyways, I'll be waiting for some reviews! So PLEASE REVIEW! Please. . . O_O (whispers) please._**

 ** _See ya! - ChimamareNoTsuki_**


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